2008.01.06-21. Round Robin 11 rounds. 12 players. Rating average 2400. Category VI. GM norm 7.5. IM norm 6.5. GM title: Jayson Gonzales. GM norm: Ashot Nadanian. IM norms: Rolando Nolte, Syarif Mahmud, Sugeng Prayitno.
The tournament was a fruitful journey for the players of Philippines. Not only the Elo favorite GM Mark Callano Paragua won the event but IM Jayson Gonzalez also secured his much needed final GM norm.
The host had to be satisfied with IM norms for FM Syarif Mahmud and Sugeng Prayitno. The best Indonesian woman chess player, WIM Irene Kharisma Sukandar, had the tournament to forget. She only scored half a point.
The only player outside ASEAN, Armenian IM Ashot Nadanian, got his GM norm. Azerbaijan born Nadanian had been living in Singapore over the years.