PRESS DIGEST - Philippine newspapers - Nov 14

MANILA, Nov 14 (Reuters) - These are the leading stories in Manila newspapers on Friday. Reuters has not verified these stories.

- A former agriculture official tells a Senate inquiry that President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo was not involved in the alleged diversion of about $15 million in fertiliser funds in 2004 (ALL PAPERS)

- President Arroyo will visit battle-scarred areas of Mindanao today to distribute groceries and medicine to residents (PHILIPPINE STAR)

- The Philippines will not experience an economic recession next year despite the global financial crisis, the Asian Development Bank has said (ALL PAPERS)

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BUSINESS

- The government has postponed the sale of PNOC Exploration Corp to next year due to poor market conditions, officials said (MANILA TIMES, MANILA STANDARD TODAY, PHILIPPINE DAILY INQUIRER)

- British investment group Ashmore (ASHM.L) is looking for a strategic partner to run Petron Corp (PCOR.PS), in which it has a majority stake, and sees San Miguel Corp (SMCB.PS) as a company that will bring value, an Ashmore Philippines representative said (MANILA STANDARD TODAY)

- Property developer Megaworld Corp (MEG.PS) plans to issue five billion pesos ($101 million) worth of unsecured notes before the end of the year to be used for general corporate purposes, the company said (PHILIPPINE STAR)

($1 = 49.5 pesos)

(Reporting by Karen Lema)