And foreign investors and businesses are more welcomed than in the past, thanks to President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's policies.

FORBES: Philippines 40 Richest

Some senior officials are pressing President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to agree to a big expansion of state-provided contraception and other family-planning help.

ECONOMIST: The food crisis revives worries about population growth

Congress went into recess earlier this month, having neither approved the 2006 budget proposed by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo nor agreed on an alternative.

ECONOMIST: Who needs a budget, Mrs Arroyo wonders?