Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo will highlight the fight against terrorism and poverty during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) leaders' summit to be held from Nov.17 to 19 in Busan, South Korea,said a government spokesman on Saturday.

Presidential spokesman Ignacio Bunye said Arroyo is also likely to meet US President George W. Bush on the sidelines of the summit to discuss the two countries' cooperation in fighting terrorism.

This could be their first one-to-one meeting after relations between the two countries were strained by Manila's decision to pull out a small contingent of troops from Iraq in July last year to save the life of a Filipino truck driver taken hostage by Iraqi insurgents.

"As chair of the Counter Terrorism Task Force, the Philippines is expected to bring the issue as one of the points of intervention during the summit," said the spokesman.

The Philippines was chosen to chair the task force during the APEC leaders' meeting in Santiago, Chile last year. President Arroyo subsequently named retired Armed Forces Chief Gen. BenjaminDefensor as task force head with rank of ambassador.

President Arroyo also considers the APEC meeting in Chile as a remarkably successful economic diplomacy engagement, which served to further consolidate the Philippines'economic cooperation with other APEC member economies, said the spokesman.

Source: Xinhua