PHILIPPINE NEWSPAPER HIGHLIGHTS - AUG 1, 2006.

MANILA, Aug 1 Asia Pulse - Highlights of today's newspapers:

MANILA TIMES:

- The latest wave of activist and media killings on Monday hit three regions, including Metro Manila, within a span of three hours, claiming three lives.

- Easing interest outlook and liquidity in the market compelled investors to make a run for shorter-dated IOUs, resulting in overwhelming demand and subscription that was more than three times the estimated tenders.

- The increase in net foreign assets and credits to the public sector enabled domestic liquidity (M3), or the demand for money, as of end-June 2006 to grow further closer to governments full-year forecast, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said yesterday.

- Barring any possibility of having the 2006 budget and the supplemental budget passed, the government has no recourse but to issue more bonds through its state-owned and -controlled corporations to support the countrys capital outlay requirements.

- Positive contributions from five economic indicators out of 11 lifted the country's composite leading indicator (LEI) in the third quarter of the year to almost double the number it posted in the same period last year, the National Statistics and Coordinating Board said.