MANILA, July 23 (Xinhuanet) -- Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo Friday took on a defiant tone defending her decision to pull out the Philippine military personnel from Iraq to save the life of kidnapped truck driver Angelo dela Cruz.

    In a speech addressing Philippine diplomats at the Department of Foreign Affairs, Arroyo said that she owes no apology (to the United States) over her decision she made over the past two weeks during the hostage crisis.

A television grab shows Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo speaking to released Filipino truck driver Angelo De la Cruz on a mobile phone during a meeting at the presidential palace in Manila July 20, 2004. Arroyo said the Filipino hostage freed by Iraqi militants on Tuesday was in high spirit and good health after talking to him by telephone from Baghdad. (China Daily/Reuters)

A television viedo grab shows a jubilant Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo after hearing that Angelo Dela Cruz, a Filipino truck driver who was held hostage in Iraq, was released during a meeting at the Malacanang presidential palace in Manila July 20, 2004. (China Daily/Reuters)

Wearing a t-shirt emblazoned with 'I Am A Filipino' slogan, released Filipino hostage Angelo Dela Cruz, standing in front row, addresses the media shortly upon arrival at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Thursday, July 22, 2004 in Manila, Philippines. (Xinhua photo)

    "And as Angelo comes home, I am not about to bare a bleeding heart to defend my position. What I have said to you, it won't take three lines to summarize: one, I take sole responsibility; two, I make no apology; three, I stuck to my oath," said Arroyo.

    She thanked the Philippine diplomats for doing a good job in saving the life of dela Cruz and bringing him home alive.

    Arroyo said that she had clearly chosen the "supreme national interests" of the Filipinos by deciding to pull out troops from Iraq.

    "I want to emphasize that our Philippine foreign policy has not changed. It is shaped, it has been shaped, and it will be shaped and driven by the supreme interest of the Filipino people," she said.

    Philippines has 8 million overseas contract workers, 1.5 million of them in the Middle East and 4000 in Iraq, most of them truck drivers, construction workers, medical staff and other service workers.

    "Truck drivers and construction workers are highly vulnerable to terrorist attacks. Combat troops of other coalition members are by definition not as vulnerable our people -- overseas Filipino workers -- are vulnerable," said Arroyo.

    Arroyo denied media speculation that the traditional partnership between Manila and Washington is on the brink of breaking up.

    "No president can break that bond (between Philippines and the United States) because it is held by a permanent history," she said.

    The US Ambassador to the Philippines, Francis Ricciardone, left for Washington Thursday, apparently to stay away from the State of the Nation Address Arroyo will make to the congress on Monday.

    The United States is angry about Philippines' decision to pull out troops from Iraq. US Defense Secretary Don Rumsfeld said on Thursday that the pullout is "provocative" to terrorists. Enditem