The Philippines and the United States have reached a rare meeting of the minds: Both are enthralled that church bells seized by the US have been returned to the Philippines after 117 years, NPR reports. Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte appeared to not want to take credit for the return of the Balangiga Bells, as he said on Thursday, that no government worker should claim it as their achievement. The return of the Balangiga bells has generated riveting interest for its historical backdrop on both countries. The bells are among the booties brought by the American soldiers who turned Balangiga into a wilderness, killing every resident of gun-carrying age in the village, writes Ernesto G. Banawis for Manila Standard.