PRESIDENT BUSH: It's my honor to welcome the President
of the Philippines here to the Oval Office. I had the honor
of not only meeting the President, but having a great discussion with
her in Shanghai, China. She is a highly intelligent, dedicated public
servant to not only better the Philippines, but to work with us to make
the world more peaceful.
I could tell the first time I talked to her that we had a great
ally and friend in our cause. And I look forward to having a
good, long discussion today about how we can work together -- how to
work together more -- we've been working together a
lot. We've been sharing intelligence; we've been talking
strategies. The United States has got a very close
relationship with the Philippines, and I intend to keep it that way.
The Philippines have been great allies and friends for a long
period of time, and it's in our national interests that we maintain a
very close and strong relationship. And so I've really been
looking forward to this visit.
I'm so honored for your strong support, and for your able
leadership. I want to welcome you to the Oval Office.
PRESIDENT ARROYO: Thank you. Thank you.
PRESIDENT BUSH: You're welcome to say a few words.
PRESIDENT ARROYO: It's my honor to be
here. And the occasion is the 50th anniversary of our mutual
defense treaty between our two countries. And this treaty just
demonstrates how we've been allies for so long. Allies in the second
world war, allies in the Cold War, allies in the Korean War, allies in
the Vietnam War, and now allies in the war against terrorism.
We're allies, too, in the economic front. The U.S. is
our number one trading partner; cumulatively, our number one source of
investment. And the Filipinos who live in America are number
one in income earning, and also number one in
education. There are 3 million, and 1.5 million of them are
voters -- 1.5 million. So I know that they're very happy
about this partnership.
PRESIDENT BUSH: Thank you, Madam President.
I'll be glad to answer a couple of questions.
Q Mr. President, why is it okay for the
American public to return to normal and fly and travel in this country,
but it is not okay for public tours to enter the White House?
PRESIDENT BUSH: Well, Laura and I regret that the public
tours aren't going on. It's -- particularly during the
Christmas holiday season. I know a lot of Americans look
forward to touring the White House during this period of
time. But we're in extraordinary times, and as I said
yesterday, evil knows no holiday; evil doesn't welcome Thanksgiving or
Christmas season. And in these extraordinary times we're
taking extraordinary measures.
It is further reason why we must continue to wage a diligent and
consistent fight against terror, and to rid the world of terror, to
make our country safe so we can have tours at the White House.
Q Mr. President, we have advisors on the
ground helping the Filipino Army in the racking down and getting rid of
Abu Sayef. Are you prepared to go the next step,
sir? Are you willing to put American combat troops on the
ground there?
And, President Arroyo, would your Constitution allow that?
PRESIDENT BUSH: Well, first of all, I'm willing to
listen to President Arroyo; I'm willing to work with her in any way
that she wants to. We've had a discussion about Abu Sayef,
she's got a clear vision about how to fight Abu Sayef. And
I'll let her speak for herself, but the Philippines are a great ally,
they're close friends, and we will cooperate in any way she suggests in
getting rid of Abu Sayef.
Q Including combat troops, sir?
PRESIDENT BUSH: That's going to be up to the
President. It's up to the President to make those
decisions. I have asked her point-blank, what help does she
need; she says she's got a great military, a competent military, she's
confident that her military can deal with Abu Sayef. And for
that I applaud her and will wish her all the best. And we
want to help her military deal with them.
Q My question was, would your Constitution
allow U.S. ground troops to join in an active engagement against Abu
Sayef?
PRESIDENT ARROYO: We would have to check
that. But in any case, as President Bush said, we have a
framework on how to fight the Abu Sayef, how to fight terrorism in the
southwestern part of the Philippines. And the framework
covers what we need in terms of diplomatic assistance, technical
assistance, assistance in winning hearts and minds, and military
assistance. We have advisors from the U.S.; we have
equipment from the U.S. All of these are part of our mutual
defense treaty.
It just so happens that now the mutual defense treaty facilities
are being used in the fight against terrorism. But we had
this pattern for many years now, and I think the pattern is going very
well as it is.
PRESIDENT BUSH: Let me say something just in
general. Your question points up what I have been saying,
that the front against terror is not just in Afghanistan; that we're
going to fight terror wherever it exists. And we will work with our
allies and friends to use whatever resources we have to win the war
against terror.
President Arroyo understands now is the time to make a stand
against terrorist activity, whether it be in Afghanistan, or in the
Philippines, or anywhere else al Qaeda exists. Because if we
don't make a stand now, our children and grandchildren will not be able
to grow up in a free world.
And so we are looking for opportunities to help friends and allies
strike al Qaeda wherever they exist. There's a lot of focus,
of course, on Afghanistan these days, and I can understand
why. But I want people in America to understand that, first
of all, the theater in Afghanistan is entering a difficult period of
time. We could be there for quite a while, which is fine
because we've got an objective in mind, and we'll stay there until we
get our objective. But there's going to be other fronts in
this theater, there will be other places where we need to work to rout
out al Qaeda and other terrorist organizations. And the
President and I are going to have a good discussion, a continued
discussion about how we can help the Philippines.
Q Sir, later today you're going to the
Justice Department for a ceremony renaming it for Mr.
Kennedy. Why now? And do you hope that you get
some help with the education bill out of this? (Laughter.)
PRESIDENT BUSH: Well, I'm not quite that
devious. I made the decision to name the Justice Department
Building after Robert Kennedy because he is deserving. His
memory is -- and his family are such a great part of American
history. He was a wonderful Attorney General, and I think
it's fitting to do such.
I'll get an education bill based on its merits, not based upon
renaming a building for a great American. Today,
interestingly enough, is Robert Kennedy's birthday. And you
said, why today? I think it's fitting that we name the
building for him on his birthday.
I look forward to the event. Mrs. Kennedy will be there,
as are a lot of the Kennedy family -- Senator Kennedy will be
there. I presume that's who you were referring to about the
education bill. I think Senator Kennedy wants to get a bill
to my desk, and I feel good that we'll get a bill to the desk here
pretty soon.
One from the Philippine press. Excuse me.
Q Mrs. President, are you signing any
agreement with President Bush regarding our security?
PRESIDENT ARROYO: No, no, we're not. What
we're going to talk about is how we can make our partnership against
terrorism, both terrorism in the world and terrorism in southern
Philippines, more useful, more efficient.
Q Could you, sir, give more -- elaborate on
the assistance that will be given to the Philippines?
PRESIDENT BUSH: I think the Philippine government will
make that announcement when the President feels comfortable making the
announcement. There's been a lot of discussions about military items,
discussions about trade, discussions about enhanced commerce, and we
look forward to listening to our close friend and ally in ways that we
can help. We've got no better friend in that part of the
world than the Philippines.
And as the President has said, there are a lot of proud Filipinos
living in America. And one of the things that's going to
happen after this meeting, she has graciously agreed to have her
picture taken with Filipino Americans working here in the White
House. And I've got a confession to make -- they're looking
forward to having -- they're more looking forward to having their
picture taken with her than with me. (Laughter.)
Q Did you ask the U.S. President to support
the veterans equity bill?
PRESIDENT BUSH: The what bill?
Q The Philippines veterans equity bill.
PRESIDENT BUSH: Oh, the veterans -- she did bring up the
issue. And she strongly brought it up, and she was an
advocate for the Philippines veterans bill, which has been an issue
around here for a long period of time.