PUERTO PRINCESA CITY, Philippines -- Armed Forces chief General Hermogenes Esperon Jr. said he could have gotten the "wrong impression" that President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo wanted to visit territory in the disputed Srpatlys Islands occupied by the Philippines.

"I could have been wrong in my impression of what the President said. Alangan namang siya pa nagkamali [She could not have bean wrong]," Esperon told reporters here.

On Monday, Esperon told troops in a speech at the Western Command headquarters here that Arroyo was planning to visit Pag-asa Island in the Spratlys, which the Philippines calls the Kalayaan Island Group.

He joked that Arroyo even scolded him during a phone conversation last Saturday for not including her in his trip to Pag-asa Island on Monday afternoon.

But Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said the President had no plans of visiting the Spratlys.

Asked if Arroyo had told him she wanted to visit the Spratlys, Esperon said: "That's what has been impressed upon me, so if her schedule is free, probably...But my impression is she had wanted to come here, to Palawan."

Had it been true, the President's visit to the Spratlys would have come at a time when her administration is under fire from the opposition for entering into a tripartite agreement for seismic study in the reportedly oil-rich islands.

Administration critics claim the Joint Marine Seismic Undertaking (JMSU) forged by the government with China and Vietnam weakens the Philippines? claim to the Spratlys.

They also accuse the administration of entering into the agreement in exchange for a multi-million-dollar loan package from China to fun projects such as the scandal-tainted national broadband network deal.

A visit by Arroyo would also have come on the heels of a recent visit to the disputed islands by Taiwan?s leader, an incident that drew vigorous protest from other claimants, including the Philippines and China, which considers Taiwan a province.