Manila, Phillippines ? President Bush brought promises of military aid and solidarity to the terrorism-plagued Philippines on Saturday, in a hurried state visit cut short by fears of attack.

A pair of U.S. F-15 fighter jets escorted Air Force One into Manila. They flew so close that the pilots’ faces could be seen clearly from the presidential aircraft.

Bush’s stop here was limited to just eight hours, speeding him through a wreath-laying ceremony, talks with President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, a speech to Congress and a formal state dinner. He was rushing from the dinner back to Air Force One to head for Thailand by day’s end.

More than 1,000 university students and other activists marched to protest Bush’s visit to Manila, a city already on edge thanks to a massive security blanket.

Arroyo, a U.S.-educated economist, has enlisted the help of American troops and spy planes against the brutal al-Qaida-linked Abu Sayyaf Muslim extremist group. The Philippines also are threatened by Jemaah Islamiyah, the al-Qaida-affiliated terror group that is blamed for last year’s bombing in Bali, Indonesia, that killed 202 people.

Bush’s visit to the Philippines is intended to reward Arroyo for her help in the war on terrorism and for contributing soldiers, police and medical workers to postwar Iraq. The president will ask how he can further help the Philippine leader, who recently had to deal with a failed mutiny by military officers.

Manila was the second stop on Bush’s six-country trip to Asia and Australia.

He left Tokyo with a $1.5 billion pledge from Japan toward Iraq reconstruction — a promising development as he presses other world leaders to be generous toward war-damaged Iraq.