PRESS DIGEST - Philippine newspapers - March 27

MANILA, March 27 (Reuters) - These are the leading stories in Manila newspapers on Thursday. Reuters has not verified these stories.

- The Senate has indefinitely suspended its inquiry into a multi-million dollar kickbacks scandal after the Philippine Supreme Court blocked senators from compelling a senior government official to testify in the probe. (PHILIPPINE DAILY INQUIRER)

- Foreign donors want the Philippine government to deal more decisively with corruption, saying it posed a risk to reform. (THE PHILIPPINE STAR, BUSINESSWORLD)

- The presidential palace said it will back the reopening of the investigation into the 2004 election scandal involving an alleged taped conversation between President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and an election official. (THE MANILA TIMES, MALAYA, BUSINESSWORLD)

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- Philippine geothermal firm PNOC-Energy Development Corp (EDC.PS: Quote, Profile, Research) has approved a 4 billion pesos ($96 million) share buyback programme, the company said in a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange. (THE PHILIPPINE STAR, PHILIPPINE DAILY INQUIRER, THE MANILA TIMES)

- The government is reviving the local steel industry by allowing more projects to avail of incentives under the Philippine Investment Priorities Plan. (MANILA STANDARD TODAY)

- Petron Corp (PCOR.PS: Quote, Profile, Research), the country's largest oil refiner, posted a 6.3 percent increase in its net income in 2007 to 6.4 billion pesos ($153 million). (MANILA STANDARD TODAY, THE MANILA TIMES, THE PHILIPPINE STAR, BUSINESSWORLD)

($1=41.73 pesos)

(Reporting by Karen Lema)