WASHINGTON (AFP) - Facing political and economic pressures at home, President Gloria Arroyo and Vietnamese Premier Nguyen Tan Dung travel to Washington this week for talks with US President George W. Bush.

The visit by Arroyo, a US ally in the “war on terror,” is expected to finally put an end to tensions caused by her pullout of Filipino troops from the US-led coalition in Iraq in 2004, experts said.

“I don’t think the pullout substantively impacted the US-Philippine relations but in the political sense, it created an impression that there was space between the US and Philippines,” said Walter Lohman, an expert with Washington-based Heritage Foundation.

The Tuesday meeting will also give the unpopular leader some political capital to remain in office until her term ends in 2010 after she survived several political impeachments amid rumors of military coups, he said.

“The meeting is not necessarily an endorsement of any of her policies but will be demonstrating a certain respect for the constitutional order in the Philippines as she is the elected president,” Lohman said.

Arroyo, whose popularity is the lowest in three years as soaring prices slowed growth and slashed incomes, is expected to discuss military counterterrorism cooperation and steps to liberalize bilateral trade with Bush, who is in his final six months in office and also unpopular.

Dung and Arroyo could raise with Bush issues such as energy pricing and subsidies, and rising inflation amid rocketing oil and food prices impacting their economies in a “very serious way,” said Ernie Bower, former president of the US-Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Business Council.

“I think they will come to ask the US President about what US policy is on these issues and what they can do about it,” Bower said.