MANILA, Philippines -- The board of directors of Yahoo! is currently undertaking a ?deliberate review process? of Microsoft Corp.?s bid to buy the Internet portal at $44.6 billion.

Responding to Microsoft?s ?unsolicited bid,? made public Friday, Yahoo! did not specify how long the review process would take, but it vaguely said ?it can take quite a bit of time.?

At least two officials from the Yahoo! Southeast Asia region have remained mum on Microsoft?s bid to buy the Internet portal.

In an e-mail message, Jason Coates, Southeast Asia Senior Manager for communications, declined to speculate on the impact of the deal on the company?s operations in the region, but has directed INQUIRER.net?s inquiry to an official pressroom, which contains Yahoo! board?s reaction to the bid.

?They?re going to take time to thoroughly evaluate the proposal in the context of Yahoo!?s strategic plans. This will include evaluating all of the company?s strategic alternatives, including maintaining Yahoo! as an independent company. That process will take some time, but the Board will ultimately pursue the option that it believes can best maximize value for our shareholders,? Yahoo! said.

Yahoo! also declined to speculate on the implications of this deal on its users, advertisers, publishers and partners.

?Yahoo!?s Board is going to evaluate all aspects of this proposal carefully and promptly in the context of the company?s strategic plans and alternatives. So it wouldn?t be appropriate to speculate about the potential benefits or challenges of a deal. But the review process that's underway won't have any impact on our efforts to deliver value to all of our users, advertisers, publishers and partners -- as well as new and exciting opportunities to our employees,? Yahoo! said.

Microsoft officials in the Philippines have not issued any statement related to the deal.

The bid was made just after Yahoo! announced possible job cuts this year. Yahoo! said that up to 1,000 jobs will be slashed this year due to financial difficulties.