5,000 were killed by US soldiers in 1901

Only 5,000 people died in the Philippine-US war in Balangiga, Samar, in 1901, and the massacre should not be considered genocidal, according to Bob Couttie, a British historian who wrote a book entitled, Hang The Dogs: The true Tragic History of the Balangiga Massacre.

The toll of 50,000 in the massacre that was launched by US soldiers from October 1901 to March 1902 in Balangiga, central Philippines, was "at least 20 times higher than the number of people who actually died (based on the alleged errors of two American historian)," said Cutie.

"The result of (my) 10 years of research cleared the US Marine Corps and Infantry of genocide on the island of Samar a century ago," boasted Cutie, adding that the difference in the population before and after the war could be due to sickness and migration.

In a five month campaign, the American soldiers killed 50,000 islanders. Then they took with them two bells from the Parish of Balangiga, after the killing spree.

Noting why two American historians made a mistake in the counting of the victims of the Americans in Balangiga, Couttie said, "The figure (50,000) represents about one in five of the island's population," Couttie said.

"Basically, the historians used the wrong figures when comparing Spanish era populations with post-Philippine War populations," Couttie explained.

"The Samar campaign (of the Americans in 1901) was nasty and brutal," said Couttie, but added if US military personnel studied the Philippines-American War, many of the mistakes being made in Iraq might have been avoided."

Akbayan wants US to return church bells

Akbayan, a leftist group, insisted that 50,000 people died during the five month campaign of the American soldiers in Balangiga, Samar in 1901, adding that this incident "marked an element of genocide" in the US campaign in the Philippines. In a protest rally near the US Embassy along Manila's Roxas Boulevard, Akbayan also demanded for the return of the three Balangiga bells that were taken as war booty by the American soldiers, to the local government of Samar.