PRESS DIGEST - Philippine newspapers - August 11
MANILA, Aug 11 (Reuters) - These are the leading stories in Manila newspapers on Monday. Reuters has not verified these stories.
- An Army trooper and as many as 15 rebels were reported killed as fighting erupted despite the commitment of the Muslim rebel group Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) to withdraw from occupied areas in North Cotabato province in southern Philippines, military and local officials said. (ALL PAPERS)
- Amid escalating gun battles between the military and MILF in North Cotabato, some 1.5 million voters in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao will troop to polling precincts on Monday to elect their local officials in what would be the country's first attempt at an automated voting system. (THE PHILIPPINE STAR, MALAYA, THE MANILA TIMES)
- Timor Leste President and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Jose Ramos-Horta arrived in Manila on Sunday for a four-day state visit. (MALAYA, MANILA BULLETIN)
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BUSINESS
- Project delays traced mostly to problems at the local government level may push back by a year the government's mining investment forecast of $10 billion by 2011, a mining official said. (BUSINESSWORLD)
- Philippine banks had very minimal exposure to the collateralised debt obligations (CDOs) of banks and financial institutions in the United States and to debt instruments of Freddie Mac (FRE.N) and Fannie Mae (FNM.N), said central bank deputy governor Nestor Espenilla, citing results from a central bank survey. (BUSINESSWORLD)
- The Philippine central bank has cleared a $400-million bridge financing from state lenders which the Manila International Airport Authority will use to compensate a consortium that included German firm Fraport AG (FRAG.DE) for the construction of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3. (PHILIPPINE DAILY INQUIRER)
- Basic Energy Corp (BSC.PS) is inviting Metro Pacific Investments Corp (MPI.PS) to be a financial partner in a 6-billion-peso ($135 million) project to produce ethanol and other alternative fuels. (PHILIPPINE DAILY INQUIRER) ($1=44.34 pesos) (Reporting by Rosemarie Francisco)
