The Philippine and US governments are expecting to repair the strained bilateral relations and strengthen cooperation on a wide variety of fronts amid disagreements over the Philippine decision to pull out its troops from Iraq.

"The strains brought about by recent events are part of a maturing and mellowing partnership that recognizes the uniqueness of each other's interests within a larger strategic universe," Philippine Presidential Spokesman Ignacio Bunye said Tuesday in a statement.

"The United States is still the Philippines' strongest ally in the world, considering our long history of friendship and sacrifice for freedom," Bunye said.

"It may take some time to patch things up but time will do the healing as we strive to resolve our principled disagreements," he added, appreciating the position of the US government, as well as the candor of US Ambassador to Manila Francis Ricciardone.

In Washington, the US State Department said Monday it was not reviewing the Philippines' status as a "major non-NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) ally" despite the Iraq pullout.

"Major non-NATO ally status is not currently under review," the US State Department said in a written reply to questions raised ata media briefing Monday.

The Philippines was granted the status by Washington in October last year to foster cooperation on military research and development between the two countries, giving the Philippines greater access to American defense equipment and supplies.

"From our point of view, the Philippines remains an ally with whom we have a long, shared history and many common interests and cooperation between us will continue on a wide variety of fronts, including counter-terrorism," Adam Ereli, deputy spokesman for the US State Department, told reporters.

He also dismissed the concern that Washington was considering any particular action in retaliation for the Philippine decision to pull out of Iraq although some Philippine foreign officials areexpecting a reduction or suspension of development aid from the United States due to the "serious disagreement" over the Iraq pullout.

On Monday in Manila, Ricciardone met with Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Delia Albert over state of relations between thetwo countries. The two sides reiterated their common determinationto strengthen the bilateral relations during the meeting.

In a statement, Albert said the Philippine-US relations remained strong, saying "Our relations go beyond any disagreementswe may have had over the issue of Iraq."

"We continue our cooperation in support of our efforts in our search for peace in Mindanao (the southern Philippine island), particularly in post-conflict rebuilding," she said.

"We also share a common desire to remain committed to the future of Iraq," she added, noting that the country continues to condemn the acts of terrorism in Iraq and Monday's meeting symbolizes the bilateral relations remain vibrant.

For the side of Ricciardone, he said, "We did have a very serious disagreement. It is one that we think has had a decided impact on our relations with the Philippines."

However, the United States is "going to work as hard as we can on all things that are important to both our countries," Ricciardone said at the press briefing after the one-hour meeting.

Last week, Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo also reiterated the United States, for the region as a whole, continued to be an important factor because of its dominant military and economic power.

For the Philippines, no president can break the bonds the Filipino and American people have endured historically, culturally and economically through a permanent history, Arroyo said in a speech at the Manila Overseas Press Club.

"We share the same goal even if we will not always walk in the same path. There are others, perhaps even more meaningful ways to strengthen our strategic relationships with the United States," Arroyo said.

The Philippines, a former US colony, has received more than 4 billion US dollars in assistance from the US Agency for International Development over the past 30 years.

Manila, the world's fourth largest recipient of US foreign military financing, obtained 114.46 million dollars last year, showed the statistics of the US embassy here.

The United States is also Manila's largest trading partner, market and investor.

Source: Xinhua