President Rodrigo Roa Duterte during the 12th anniversary of the Eastern Mindanao Command (EastMinCom) at the Naval Forces Eastern Mindanao (NFEM), Naval Station Felix Apolinario (NSFA) in Panacan, Davao City on August 23, 2018. President Rodrigo Duterte dismissed an offer of the United States to supply new military equipment but he demanded instead that the US government return the Balangiga bells which were taken from the country as war trophies during the Philippine-American war.

Duterte, in a speech during the 12th founding anniversary of the Eastern Mindanao Command in Davao City, described the friendship of the Philippines with the US has been “imposed on us because when you won in the Spanish-American war, the Philippines was handed to you, America, like a chattel.”

“Now you say, ‘Duterte that has happened a long time ago.’ Why? Can passage of time cure an injustice?” the President said.

In 1901, US soldiers killed thousands of Filipinos, including women and children, in Balangiga, a town in Eastern Samar, in retaliation to the death of 48 US troops in the hands of Filipino rebels which sacked an American camp in the province.

Soldiers then took the town’s church bells. Two of the bells are at the Warren Air Force Base in Wyoming while the third is part of a traveling museum.

“Just because it was 100 years [ago] so it is erased? Then the bells are there; the memory still haunts everybody here because they were taken with blood and lives of our brothers and sisters,” Mr. Duterte said.

The President said three US officials, Secretary Wilbur Ross of the Department of Commerce, Secretary Michael Pompeo of the US State Department and US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, wrote him and sought a meeting to discuss the country’s military’s modernization program.

Mr. Duterte said he is not interested in acquiring M16 rifles from the US but he wanted propeller planes for the anti-insurgency campaign.

The President said he doubts the US Congress would approve the arms deal to the Philippines.

“How sure are you that I will get what I ordered? If I bought a dozen M16 rifles, will they deliver them?” Duterte asked, directing the questions to the three senior US officials.

The letter, which came following Duterte’s pronouncement to secure military equipment from Russia, was read by the President before soldiers, local officials and guests during the event.

Still, Duterte said he was thinking of meeting the three US top officials as long as the venue is within the country.

The letter highlighted the country’s partnership with the US built on shared history and values. “This special relationship will only grow stronger by increasing our dialogue, especially on security cooperation and trade,” the letter stated.

He said the US officials noted in their letters that the country’s purchase of US military equipment would exemplify the US-Philippines continuing commitment to the breadth and the strength of the two countries’ alliance.

He said the US will need to do more to prove its sincerity, as he recalled the suspension of an arms deal with the Philippines following a US senator’s criticism of the human rights situation in the Philippines.

The President has been distancing himself from the US, recalling how former US President Barrack Obama supposedly looked down on him and the Philippines over unfounded human rights violations as well as criticisms over the administration’s anti-illegal drugs campaign.

He also recalled the procurement of six US refurbished choppers used by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, three of which already crashed and killed all the soldiers on board.

In his speech, Duterte also urged the New People’s Army to end its war against the government.

“Life isn’t that easy. Life has to evolve and progress and development can’t be rushed through a revolution. If you’re always calling for revolution and killing people, nothing good will happen to our nation,” Duterte said.

“I want peace for my land,” he stressed. Mr. Duterte recently issued a stern warning to local politicians about being associated with the armed group, reminding them “do not coddle, do not take sides.”

In the same event, Duterte also conferred medals and gave plaques to outstanding members and units of the Armed Forces as well as Mindanao stakeholders in acknowledgment of their remarkable service and contribution to his administration’s campaigns.

He was also presented with around 700 surrendered and recovered firearms by military troops.

The President lauded the members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, particularly the men and women of the Eastern Mindanao Command, for their exemplary service in the government.

“I’d like to congratulate the men and women of the Eastern Mindanao Command and those who passed before you, particularly soldiers who died and we send our prayers for them,” he said.