MANILA, Sept. 15 (Xinhuanet) -- Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on Monday reiterated the significance of the slated visit of US President George W. Bush to her country in October, and ordered for maximum security for the event.

　　"The visit of President Bush is about relationship between the Philippines and the United States in the Asia-Pacific. It is about a partnership against terrorism and poverty," the presidential palace quoted Arroyo as saying in a press statement.

　　The visit, according to her, is about peace and development in Mindanao in the southern Philippines and in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), and "the shared pride of Filipinos and Americans in democracy and freedom."

　　The president ordered that maximum security measures be taken for Bush's visit. "This is being handled jointly by Philippine andUS authorities," she noted, adding that the two parties are taking proactive steps and beefing up intelligence gathering and surveillance.

　　"We will leave no stone unturned to ensure that his stay in our country will be safe, fruitful and rewarding," she stressed.

　　Arroyo said last Friday that Bush's upcoming visit will be both highly symbolic and substantive and expected to deepen and tighten friendship and mutuality between the two countries. "It will further seal our pact against terrorism and poverty as the US gears for a broader post-conflict and rehabilitative role in Mindanao," she said.

　　Bush is expected to make an eight-hour visit to the Philippineson Oct. 18, which is considered as a gesture of thanks to Arroyo for her staunch support for the US-led war against terror.

　　The presidential palace, however, maintained on Sunday that there is "nothing political" in the visit of Bush despite observations by some quarters that his visit would be a virtual endorsement of Arroyo to seek a full term in the 2004 elections.

　　An US advance party has arrived here to coordinate with the local authorities, getting ready for the Bush visit, which is a stop-over on his way to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) leaders' summit from Oct. 20 to Oct. 21 in Bangkok. Arroyo will also be among the 21 heads of APEC members attending the forum. Enditem