First in the list of priorities of the tech firm is the formal establishment of a local Yahoo office to be headed by IT pioneer Jojo Anonuevo. He will be supported by Cris Concepcion, a physician by training, who will serve as the company’s strategic consultant. A third employee, a lady executive, has also been hired to provide logistical and marketing help.

According to Anonuevo, Yahoo is not dwelling much on the proposed buyout of the company by software behemoth Microsoft. "We’re business as usual and we’re busy building up Yahoo as a brand to make it as a stating point for Internet users in the country so advertisers can leverage on it."

The executive team said the flurry of local activities that Yahoo undertook last year was unprecedented, which led the company to officially set up a subsidiary that is dedicated in developing the local website (www.yahoo.com.ph). This development, they said, is unique in this part of the world although the regional headquarters is located in Singapore.

The Philippines, said Concepcion, is poised for growth with 20 million Filipinos now actively using the Internet. The country’s Internet population grew last year by 30 percent or about 8 million.

The good news for the company, the executive said, is that 85 percent of the current Pinoy Internet users are using Yahoo services such as e-mail, instant messaging, and search, among others.

This wide market reach, the company said, provides an advertising platform that marketers cannot ignore. "Yahoo will ensure that the most effective and easiest marketing solutions are provided to advertisers in the Philippines."

Anonuevo said the if company would have its way, it would like to see local firms diversify into the online marketing medium. "Currently, their online budget comprises only one percent of their total marketing budget. We want to increase that proportion to at least five percent," he said.

He added, "We’re not saying that they should not spend on traditional advertising areas like TV, radio, and newspapers. But the online medium is also growing. And the beauty of online is that they can actually target the specific market they want to reach."

Anonuevo and Concepcion both see 2008 as the breakthrough year for Yahoo in the country because of the newly organized Philippine team, which has pledged to work with the local Internet ecosystem including commercial and student developers.

The officials said they would continue to collaborate with universities and third-party developers to enable them to build applications on the Yahoo platform that are highly personalized and relevant to their needs.

As an example, the Yahoo Mobile Developer platform allows developers to easily create mobile-optimized applications that would run in various mobile devices and be accessible to mobile users all over the world.

The local Yahoo office also said it is bent on expanding its partnerships with local content providers, particularly from the mass media, to attract users and drive revenues to the media companies through an ad-sharing business model.

"When Yahoo benefits, the whole Internet ecosystems benefits as well," the company said.