Malacanang said it is ''deeply saddened'' by the passing of former US President George Herbert Walker Bush, who gave support to President Cory Aquino during the 1989 coup.

In a statement Saturday, Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said Bush ''stood for freedom and his words about the subject ring a bell until this day when he said, 'The anchor in our world today is freedom, holding us steady in times of change, a symbol of hope to all the world.'

Bush, who succeeded Ronald Reagan as US president in 1989, approved the use of US Phantom jets from Clark Airbase to prevent rebel soldiers from flying their planes in December 1989. The Armed Forces of the Philippines were able to lift Manila from the seventh coup attempt against Aquino.

Bush, the 41st President of the United States, was credited for his foreign policy which saw the end of the Cold War, said Panelo.

''On behalf of the Filipino nation and people, we wish to convey our condolences and prayers to the family and friends of Mr. Bush, as well as to the government and the people of the United States of America,'' said Panelo.

Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr, in his Twitter account, called Bush ''possibly the best man to be US president: as a person, as a decent human being, and as one of the smartest in its history. You'll all see that in time. He was the last of the great Americans, the absolute last.''DMS