President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo confirmed the analysis of Texas-based think tank, Strategic Forecasting (Stratfor), that she will be criticised for allowing the entry of U.S. troops in the war zones in Mindanao.

"There are benefits and downsides. It's true, I'm taking a risk (on the issue of the U.S. troops)," said Arroyo, during her weekly television programme. "It will be used against me as they have done with every issue. But they will not succeed."

Arroyo added that all rumoured coup plots against her since she took office after former President Joseph Estrada's ouster last January 2001, have failed to materialise.

In her usual determined way, Arroyo said she is used to critics, but said the issue on extended wargames in Zamboanga City and Basilan Island has no effect on the stability of her administration.

"What I see is that as more information is provided, there is less resistance to U.S. troop deployment," she said.

"Critics of the president could use the controversy over the issue to spark a movement aimed at removing her from office," said Stratfor, in a recent report, magnified by Arroyo's critics who held rallies and called for her ouster.

Even leftist groups which helped her come to power by holding rallies against Estrada, also scheduled rallies against the six-month wargames in the area where the Abu Sayyaf is still holding two American missionaries and a Filipina nurse.

The Stratfor analysis has recognised the 'benefits' of the joint war games between the U.S. and the Philippine, said Arroyo.

Aside from developing the capability of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, the cooperation with Washington could also lead to "political and socio-economic benefits," said Arroyo. She reiterated that U.S. soldiers would not be involved in actual combat against members of the Abu Sayyaf.

Meanwhile, monitoring teams have been formed to ensure that 660 Americans taking part in the extended war drill do not commit any offence, said Justice Secretary Hernando Perez. The government has asked the Human Rights Commission to be extra alert.

The Philippine-U.S. Visiting Forces Agreement provides that while the Philippines has jurisdiction over erring American personnel, the government could waive this right upon request by the U.S. government, depending on the nature of the committed offence as specified in the VFA.

The National Security Council and the pro-and anti-administration senators supported her new foreign policy regarding the deployment of 660 U.S. troops in Mindanao.

In the same programme, Senator Robert Barbers, senate committee chair on public order and illegal drugs, insisted: "There is no truth to the destabilisation plots against the Arroyo administration. Our government is very solid and stable. It is very good especially in economic reform."

Nearly 450 U.S. troops have arrived in the Philippines. About 100 of them have arrived in the southern Philippines. The Southern Command Chief has given strict instructions that the American soldiers should stay away from the real battle zones between Philippine government soldiers and Abu Sayyaf fighters. So far there were no reported clashes.

The 100 U.S. troops in Zamboanga City and Basilan are preparing for the arrival of a larger unit of U.S. troopers who will provide training for Filipino soldiers. The training begins in February.

AFP adds: Arroyo yesterday praised opposition leaders for dropping their objections to the deployment of U.S. troops against Abu Sayyaf Muslim rebels.

"I thank the opposition senators for their decision on the joint military exercises of the Philippine and American troops," Arroyo said in her weekly radio show, referring to a Senate hearing held on Friday.

She said that as a result of the hearing, "they believe the government regarding the true mission of the American soldiers" who have been arriving in the southern Philippines.

"The don't have any doubts about the participation of the soldiers of the U.S. in wargames to be conducted in Basilan and Zamboanga City," she said.