Hello Rick,
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People have said that the power of a keris resides in the tang, or pesi; so you might use the pesi of the powerful kris to enhance the power of the new sword . 
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The only info on Moro kris regarding this topic (by Cato) suggests that the base area (especially the "arrow" motif if fullers are present) is the "home" of the jin. If I remember correctly, Alan related that the pesi of keris Jawa isn't usually regarded as having special power either.
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Also, if this is the case why not just use the powerful metal in the forging process rather than go through the difficult process of adding it later resulting in weakening the overall structure of the sword ? 
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Yes, recycling the metal seems to have been traditionally used in Indonesia and would certainly make sense from a structural point of view...
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Having said that; I still think that these could also be legitimate repairs to weapons destroyed by government patrols .
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I wouldn't emphasize the colonial war by the US too much since I guess that many repairs were already done well before the US involvement: Many repairs are of a quality which I'd estimate to have vanished before the 20th century, possibly already during the Span.-Am. war.
Regards,
Kai