Philippine government Thursday defended its decision of joining the US-led "Coalition of the Willing" in Iraq as serving the country's interests.

"Joining the coalition was a decision made in a specific point in time to serve our national interests," Press Secretary and Presidential Spokesman Ignacio Bunye said in a statement.

"We were in the midst of a continuing, global battle against terror, in which we have made solid and permanent gains," Bunye said.

"We faced a UN call for support and involvement," he added. "We had the moral obligation to stand up for the security of Filipinos here and abroad."

"The exigencies of the moment demanded an extraordinary decision to act, which the President (Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo) did with the support of the people," Bunye said.

On Wednesday, Senator Miriam Santiago said the Philippines' membership in the United States-led "coalition of the willing" in Iraq might have been unconstitutional as it had no concurrence from the Senate.

Santiago, chair of the Senate foreign relations committee, pointed out that any "international agreement" requires the concurrence of the Senate at a hearing.

As an international law expert, she said the US-led war against Iraq violated international laws because it was done without UN authority.

The Philippines gave political and moral support to the US-led war that toppled the regime of Iraqi strongman Saddam Hussein. It joined the "coalition of the willing" after the war and sent a 96-man humanitarian contingent to Iraq.

However, the Philippines withdrew its contingent later to save the life of Filipino truck driver Angelo de la Cruz kidnapped by Iraqi militants, who threatened to behead the Filipino if the country will not withdraw its troops.

The move was criticized by the United States and other allies and the US State Department said the Philippines no longer a member of the US-led "Coalition of the willing" as the Philippines caved in to the demands of the Iraqi terrorists.

Both the Philippines and the United States maintained they are still allies, and the Philippine government has repeatedly reaffirmed the Philippine-US alliance remains strong especially on the campaign against terror.

Source: Xinhua