The Philippines permits the U.S. Armed Forces access to an additional four military bases, thereby expediting the full implementation of the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement. 2023-02-2
Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte suspends the termination process of the Visiting Forces Agreement, a military pact between the Philippines and the United States. 2021-07-30
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 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
Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Perfecto Yasay states that the United States remains our "closest friend," but that the Philippines wants to break away and forge closer ties with other nations. 2016-10-22
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