Bush promised after talks with President Gloria Arroyo at the White House Monday to make the Philippines a non-NATO ally of the United States, clearing the way for increased US military loans, cut-price US military equipment and other military benefits.

"That will prop up the war against terror in the Philippines if we get those (military aid) packages on time," said Congressman Prospero Pichay, head of the House defense committee.

"We need it very badly. If they can deliver to us as soon as possible then that will really help deliver a big blow to the enemy," he said.

The Philippines only has 18 helicopters and two OV-10 attack planes as well as six helicopter gunships and two C-130 transport planes.

"We don't have much equipment," said Pichay.

Arroyo also obtained from Bush a pledge of a new joint military effort to finally crush the Abu Sayyaf, a small group of Muslim guerrillas linked to the al-Qaeda terror network.

He also offered her 30 million dollars in new aid for training and equipping the Philippine military.

As a special non-NATO ally, the Philippines would be given priority in receiving excess US military surplus, allow it to stockpile equipment and make it eligible to participate in research and development programs, the US embassy said.

Other countries that enjoy similar status are Australia, Bahrain, Egypt, Israel, Japan, Jordan, Argentina, South Korea and New Zealand. The Philippines is the first Southeast Asian country to get this status.

"This is a most welcome development for us, particularly the armed forces," military vice chief of staff Lieutenant General Rodolfo Garcia said. "This would translate into added assistance in the economic and military levels."

Hours before embarking on the US trip Saturday, Arroyo ordered a military offensive against the 12,500-strong Muslim separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in the southern Philippines.

Apart from the Abu Sayyaf, the military is also struggling with the communist New People's Army (NPA), the 9,000-strong guerrilla arm of the underground Communist Party of the Philippines waging a decades long insurgency.

Washington has labelled the Abu Sayyaf and the NPA as terrorists while the MILF has been accused of having ties with the Jemaah Islamiyah, which in turn is allegedly linked to al-Qaeda.

Although the two countries have long been military allies, many Filipinos feel the country was not getting enough US attention as a frontline state in the war against terror.

"People have been complaining here about the type of military packages we were getting: night vision goggles and small arms," said Joey Silva, associate director of the Asian Institute of Management policy forum, a local think-tank.

The Arroyo visit should change that, he says.

"It's definitely a positive note. We are now on the map as a major partner (of America) rather than before when we were just something small on the radar screen," Silva remarked

Arroyo's decision to back the US when it launched its anti-terror war had drawn flak from nationalist groups, which accused her of being Uncle Sam's lapdog. It had also led to a sharp drop in her popularity, forcing her to back out from presidential elections next year.

US military presence here hemains a thorny issue, just a decade after the Philippine Senate closed down US bases north of Manila after nearly half a century of operations.

WAR.WIRE