Philippine Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. suspends the termination of its Visiting Forces Agreement with the United States for another six months, which was set to expire in August. 2021-06-14
Philippine and U.S. troops resume their annual Balikatan military exercises following last year's cancellation of the event due to the pandemic. 2021-04-12
President Rodrigo Duterte suspends for six months the termination of the Philippines–United States Visiting Forces Agreement. Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. says the decision comes due to "political and other developments in the region". 2020-06-2
The President of the Philippines Rodrigo Duterte terminates the Visiting Forces Agreement with the United States. Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. confirms that the Embassy of the United States, Manila, has been formally notified. The termination will take effect after 180 days. 2020-02-11
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte bans U.S. Senators Dick Durbin and Patrick Leahy from entering the country, as both are seeking to enforce sanctions on politicians involved in the prosecution of Philippine Senator and Duterte administration critic Leila de Lima. Duterte also threatens to tighten visa requirements for American citizens should the sanctions go through. 2019-12-27
The Balangiga bells, stolen during the massacre in Balangiga in 1901 during the Philippine–American War, were returned to the Philippines after 117 years under the possession of the United States. 2018-12-11
During the annual State of the Nation Address through the Congress of the Philippines, President of the Philippines Rodrigo Duterte has outright demanded that the United States return the controversial Balangiga bells, taken during one of the campaigns of the Philippine–American War as spoils of war. Previous attempts to recover the bells have all failed so far. 2017-07-24
United States State Department blocks the sale of firearms to the Philippines due to concerns of human rights violations. 2016-11-2
In response to criticism of his government's extrajudicial killings of 1,800 people since July, Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte says that U.S. forces advising the Armed Forces of the Philippines against an Islamic insurgency in Mindanao are doing more harm than good and must leave the country, saying, ”I do not want a rift with America, but they have to go," during a speech in Manila. 2016-09-12