MANILA - Former Philippines president Fidel Ramos will seek to repair ties with Malaysia that were damanged over alleged mistreatment of illegal Filipino migrants, a presidential spokesman said Friday.

President Gloria Arroyo late Thursday said she would ask Ramos, regarded as a friend of Malaysian Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, to go to Kuala Lumpur.

"I still do not have the specifics, but what I know is former president Fidel Ramos is very close to Prime Minister Mahathir," presidential spokesman Ignacio Bunye said over DZBB radio.

"His trip will open a lot of doors and hopefully will speed up the solution to this problem," Bunye said.

Manila filed a formal protest earlier this week after thousands of illegal migrants arrived in the southern Philippines in recent days after the Aug 1 implementation of tough Malaysian laws.

The laws included a six-month jail term and up to six strokes of the cane for those convicted of illegally staying in Malaysia.