Google announced that it is opening a representative office in the Philippines, which will be headed by country manager Narciso Reyes and based in Manila, TechCrunch reports.

Reyes, a former Friendster exec, was brought on as Sales Head in the Philippines by Google last November. The Mountain View-based company plans to start hiring for its new office and will post job listings on its local site in the new few days.

According to InterAksyon.com, Google has been filling positions in the Philippines since last spring, when job listings for that country started popping up on Google Singapore’s site.

Google’s Manila office is the fifth in Southeast Asia, which is one of Google’s fastest-growing regions thanks to its expanding middle class. Its Singapore office opened in July 2007, followed by locations in Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia. The Philippines was the first country tto get Google’s Free Zone last fall and localization initiatives have included the launch of YouTube Philippines in October 2011.