Duterte might visit US after midterm elections
MANILA, Philippines — Details of President Rodrigo Duterte's possible visit to the United States might be discussed after the May 2019 midterm elections, Foreign Affairs Secretary Teddy Locsin said Friday.
US President Donald Trump has been inviting Duterte to the White House since April 2017.
"President Duterte has been repeatedly invited to go to the United States. We have conveyed this to the president. The president is aware of it," Locsin said in a joint conference with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
Locsin noted that the president is currently busy with the campaign of his senatorial slate for the upcoming elections.
"He (Duterte) has a very strong affection for President Trump and the exact details, the arrangements will be made. Specific details will have to wait for the end of the elections because that's important," Locsin said.
Pompeo met with Duterte Thursday evening to reaffirm the longstanding alliance between the US and the Philippines.
The president and the top American envoy also discussed ways to improve cooperation on regional security and counterterrorism, according to the US Department of State.
Balangiga Bells
Duterte earlier declared that he would only accept the invitation of Trump once the historic Balangiga bells are returned to the Philippines.
In November, a military ceremony was held at F.E. Warren Air Force Base in Cheyenne, Wyoming to signify the official repatriation of the church bells to the country.
In 1901, American troops took the church bells from the San Lorenzo de Martir Parish in Balangiga, Eastern Samar as war booty. Until last year, two of the bells were located in Wyoming while the third one was at a US Army base in South Korea.
The three bells finally arrived at Villamor Air Base in Pasay City on Dec. 11, 2018. The bells were later on returned to their original home in Eastern Samar.
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