The possibility of the meeting arose as Malacañang officials gird for Mrs. Arroyo’s participation in this year’s APEC summit. Foreign Affairs Secretary Blas Ople accompanies the President to the APEC meet.
Mrs. Arroyo and Bush also conferred at a hastily arranged bilateral meeting during the APEC summit in Beijing, China last year.
Palace sources told The STAR that Mrs. Arroyo and Bush may be able to have a "side" meeting during the APEC summit.
The White House announced two weeks ago that Bush called up the President to express anew the US government’s gratitude for the support given by the Philippines in the US-led war on terrorism.
Mrs. Arroyo did not give any details about her latest phone conversation with Bush, but the US Embassy in Manila released a copy of the Sept. 20 letter sent by Bush to the US Congress.
Bush expressed the desire of the US to "continue a long-term effort" to assist the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) to stamp out terrorists in the Philippines as part of the war on terror.
Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye yesterday said the same commitment was officially relayed to the President by US Secretary of State Colin Powell during the latter’s visit to Manila last Aug. 3.
After his meeting with Mrs. Arroyo at Malacañang, Powell specifically alluded to the $1 billion global anti-terror fund the US Congress approved last year in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
Powell said the $55 million anti-terror fund allocated to the Philippines under this US assistance would be given in addition to the $100 million earlier committed by Bush in his first meeting with Mrs. Arroyo during her visit to the White House last year.
Besides Bush, the DFA is also working out other "on-the-side" meetings between Mrs. Arroyo and Chinese President Jiang Zemin, Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammad.
Before she flies to Mexico, the President will also make an overnight stop at Honolulu, Hawaii for a high-level security briefing from Adm. Thomas Fargo, the US commander-in-chief in the Pacific (CINCPAC).
As of press time, the President’s official entourage for the Honolulu trip and a two-day stopover in Los Angeles, California was not yet finalized. — Marichu Villanueva