Three church bells seized by US soldiers as spoils of war more than a century ago are expected to begin their journey back to the Philippines.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Philippine Ambassador to the United States Jose Manuel Romualdez said on Tuesday a military ceremony was scheduled on November 14 in Wyoming, where the exact arrival date in the Philippines would be announced by US Secretary of Defence Jim Mattis.
"We will have an official release after that formal event," he told Manila television network GMA News.
Mattis notified the US Congress in August of the Department of Defence's plan to return the bells to the Philippines.
Presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo said the government welcomed any movement towards the return of the bells, which were taken from the town of Balangiga in the eastern province of Samar in 1901 during the US colonisation of the Philippines.
But he noted that until the bells are turned over to the Philippine government, the administration was "withholding any further comment... until the last bell has been properly delivered to the country".
"In the words of the president himself: 'It ain't here until it's here,'" Panelo added.
Australian Associated Press