Locsin: Duterte visit to US a possibility with return of Balangiga bells

A visit to the United States is now a possibility for President Rodrigo Duterte with the Balangiga bells on their way back to the Philippines, a report on QRT said Thursday.

According to Foreign Affairs Secretary Teddy Locsin Jr., he told US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley that Duterte would never go to the US until the bells are returned.

Haley replied that there will be no reason for Duterte not to visit once the issue is settled.

"Nikki Haley asked me last year, Why is your president still not coming to the US? I said, He never will until the Bells of Balangiga are returned. She took note and added when we get the bells, no more excuse not to accept Trump's invitation," Locsin said in a tweet.

Nikki Haley asked me last year, Why is your president still not coming to the US? I said, He never will until the Bells of Balangiga are returned. She took note and added when we get the bells, no more excuse not to accept Trump's invitation. https://t.co/FreqzeYq6m

— Teddy Locsin Jr. (@teddyboylocsin) November 14, 2018

At an official turnover ceremony at the F.E. Warren Air Force Base in Cheyenne, Wyoming, US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis on Thursday (PHL time) formally returned church bells to the Philippines. Philippine Ambassador to the United States Jose Manuel Romualdez was also in attendance.

The bells were taken by American soldiers as war trophies from the town church in Balangiga, Eastern Samar over a century ago during the Philippine-American War. The bells' return seeks to close a contentious chapter in the two allies' shared history.

The decision to return the bells to the Philippines ends a decades-long campaign and is expected to bolster US-Philippines relations. — Jessica Bartolome/BM, GMA News