MANILA (AFP) – US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrived in Manila Thursday in a bid to deepen defense ties with a country fighting Islamist militants who officials say are now using Iraq-style tactics.

The two-day visit comes as US Special Forces advisers are in the Southern Philippines to train and equip Filipino soldiers in combating the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) that is blamed for the Southeast Asian nation's worst terrorist attacks.

Clinton is likely to hear “strong support” from President and her defense officials for the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA), a 1999 treaty which governs the deployment of US troops in the Philippines, Arroyo's aides said.

On the eve of Clinton's visit, police broke up a protest by 70 left-leaning students in Manila who demanded the pullout of the US military advisers, saying they are an affront to the nation's sovereignty.

But a senior State Department official said most Filipinos supported the military ties with the United States.

“I'm not overly concerned by these calls,” the official told reporters Wednesday during Clinton's visit to Singapore for talks with Asia Pacific foreign ministers.

“You hear them periodically in the Philippines but I think the broad trend is to support deeper mil-to-mil (military-to-military) engagement between the two countries,” the official said.

Ahead of the visit, the Philippines foreign department also issued a statement reiterating its commitment to the military cooperation.

“The Philippine government believes that the Philippines-United States Visiting Forces Agreement is indispensable to the nation's security,” it said.

But opposition Senator Francis “Chiz” Escduero said the visit of Clinton should be an opportune time for the Palace to bring up controversial provisions of the VFA.

He said that Clinton’s expressed solidarity with the Philippines would be superficial if the US continues to assert the unequal clauses in the agreement, including the issue of jurisdiction over crimes committed by visiting US troops in the country.

“The case of US Lance Corporal Daniel Smith says it all. As the first serious woman candidate of the US, Hillary Clinton is an inspiration for women everywhere, and it is ironic that the VFA is so glaringly anti-women, particularly in the case of Smith,” said the senator.

The termination of the US Bases in 1991 eventually led the Philippines and the US to come up with the VFA in 2001, including the annual holding of joint military exercises.

Escudero also said the Palace should ask the US to ensure that there are no nuclear weapons in US ships entering the country.