Philippine president, Ms Gloria Arroyo, has won backing for joint US-Philippines military operations against Abbu Sayyaf, a Muslim rebel group alleged to have ties with Osama bin Laden.
Ms Arroyo told a key National Security Council meeting that the US Special Forces troops would focus on extensive training of Filipino counterparts and "will not engage in combat, period," National Security Adviser, Mr Roilo Golez, said.
Vice President and concurrent foreign secretary, Mr Teofisto Guingona, earlier expressed doubts over the legality of the ongoing deployment of at least 600 US troops in Mindanao and nearby islands in the country's south, where Abu Sayyaf gunmen operate.
Manila and Washington signed the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) treaty in 1999 to provide a framework for conducting regular joint military exercises. The two allies also have a 1951 mutual defence treaty.
Mr Guingona told reporters later he was not quitting the cabinet.
"I was given the opportunity to speak out," he said, but added: "Regardless of my reservations, I have to respect the opinion" of Perez, who briefed the meeting on the legal framework of the joint operations.
Washington describes the deployments as an extension of its global campaign against terrorism that began in Afghanistan, but Mr Golez said such comparisons are overblown.
Both governments say the Abu Sayyaf has ties to the al-Qaeda movement led by Saudi-born militant bin Laden, the main suspect in the September 11 terrorist attacks that claimed nearly 3,000 lives in the United States.
AFP