PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte will skip the historic handover of the Balangiga bells by the United States (US) to the Philippines set on Tuesday, December 11, Malacañang announced on Monday, December 10.

Duterte was initially scheduled to lead the ceremony, which will be held at the Villamor Airbase in Pasay City on Tuesday, December 12.

His attendance to the historic event, however, was removed from the updated media advisory sent to Palace reporters on Monday afternoon.

Duterte would no longer attend the handover ceremony since he would go to Samar on Saturday, December 15, Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said in a statement.

"The President, upon the recommendation of Secretary of National Defense Delfin N. Lorenzana, will no longer be attending the handover of the Balangiga bells scheduled tomorrow, December 11, in Villamor Air Base," Panelo said.

"The President will instead be in Samar on December 15, Saturday, to turn over the bells to Balangiga officials. I hope this clarifies the matter," he added.

The three Balangiga bells, taken by invading American soldiers as war booty more than a century ago, will be returned to the Philippines on Tuesday.

The American forces took the bells after they killed the townspeople in what is known as the Balangiga massacre.

Two bells were kept at the Francis E. Warren Air Force Base in Cheyyene, Wyoming while the third bell was kept at a US Army museum in South Korea. (SunStar Philippines)