PRESS DIGEST - Philippine newspapers - July 25

MANILA, July 25 (Reuters) - These are the leading stories in Manila newspapers on Friday. Reuters has not verified these stories.

- Forty percent of Filipinos expect President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's State of the Nation Address on Monday to be "untruthful," results of the latest Pulse Asia survey showed. (THE PHILIPPINE STAR, PHILIPPINE DAILY INQUIRER, MALAYA, THE MANILA TIMES)

- A government proposal to postpone elections in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao was a move aimed at amending the Philippine Constitution, Senator Richard Gordon said. (THE MANILA TIMES)

- The Court of Appeals has nullified a cease-and-desist order issued by the Securities and Exchange Commission stopping Manila Electric Co MERB.PS from accepting proxy votes during its May 27 annual stockholders meeting. (ALL PAPERS)

**********

BUSINESS

- The government expects its debt stock to fall below 50 percent of gross domestic product by 2010 due to strong economic growth and sustained fiscal discipline, government data showed. (PHILIPPINE DAILY INQUIRER, THE MANILA TIMES)

- Property giant Ayala Land Inc (ALI.PS) is borrowing at least 6 billion pesos ($136 million) this year to refinance debt acquired at higher interest rates and fund the company's aggressive expansion ahead of expected hikes in borrowing costs, its president said. (PHILIPPINE DAILY INQUIRER)

- House of Representatives Energy committee chairman Juan Miguel Arroyo said his committee will look into the possibility of cutting royalties on indigenous energy sources to help lower Philippine power rates. (BUSINESSWORLD, THE MANILA TIMES)

($1 = 44.23 Philippine pesos)

(Reporting by Karen Lema)