It is not clear if U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell will be able to sign the controversial military agreement with President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo at a meeting in Manila on August 3, a senior official said.

Arroyo is not inclined to sign a key military agreement with the U.S. although she said earlier that the controversial Mutual Logistics Support Agreement (MLSA) should be treated as a presidential agreement and not as a treaty that should be approved by the Philippine Congress, said Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye.

"We have a good relationship with the United States now due to (recent) treaties (and this should strengthen U.S.-Philippine ties even if the MLSA is not signed)," stated Bunye.

The president does not have a copy of the draft of the MLSA. Bunye noted that the moment she gets it, she will show it to the public before she signs it.

MLSA would provide legal cover for logistics support in military exercises before the proposed next round of joint military exercises pushes through.

Arroyo's signature on the U.S.-proposed MLSA will help the U.S. decide whether or not to leave behind the equipment used by them in training the Philippine soldiers who were tasked to run after the Abu Sayyaf terror group in the southern Philippines, said Defence Secretary Angelo Reyes.

Bunye pointed out that the U.S. government will still ask the U.S. Congress to pass the proposed $25 million military assistance even if the MLSA is not signed.

Philippine Ambassador to the U.S. Albert del Rosario said the U.S. Congress has already approved military financing worth $55 million. He is now in to Manila to prepare for Powell's visit.

"On top of this, the Bush administration had asked for an additional $15 million as an economic support fund ... for Mindanao," Del Rosario said in a report to Arroyo.

Leftists and nationalist groups do not believe that Arroyo's statement is a sign that she will not eventually sign the MLSA.

Militant senators and congressmen said the MLSA will mean the establishment of permanent U.S. bases in the country.

U.S. State Department representative Christian Castro earlier explained at the foreign affairs office that the MLSA was a "simple and routine document" to augment the ongoing U.S.-Philippine war games in southern Philippines.

Another set of U.S.-Philippine wargames to be held from October to June next year will be held in northern Luzon, Metro Manila, and southern Philippines.

The U.S. is surprised at the many detractors of the signing of the MLSA, unlike in other countries where it has the same kind of military arrangement, said Castro.

Earlier, newly appointed Foreign Secretary Blas Ople said he is pro-American, and added that the leftist groups still believe that they will win in their armed struggle.

The ties between the U.S. and the Philippines will be stronger, Ople noted, but added that the MLSA should be shown to the senators.

It was a hint that the MLSA should be ratified by the Senate, which the U.S. has not agreed to in earlier negotiations with Philippine government officials.

Ties between the U.S. and the Philippines strengthened when Arroyo became the first south-east Asian leader to side with the U.S. President's call for an alliance against terrorism, following the September 11 terror attacks.

Powell, who embarks on a six-nation tour of south-east Asia next week, will push for talks on the war against terrorism.

He is expected to announce the resumption of military assistance and proposed expanded U.S.-Philippine operations in Manila.

More than 1,000 U.S. troops are already deployed in Mindanao to flush out the Abu Sayyaf Group, which has been linked to Osama bin Laden's Al Qaida network.
The U.S. soldiers will leave here at the end of this month.