AKRON, Ohio (AP) — The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. said Friday it will cut 500 jobs by closing its tire plant in the Philippines as part of a strategy to reduce manufacturing capacity that the biggest U.S. tiremaker believes is no longer competitive.

Goodyear opened the Las Pinas plant in 1956. The closure is to be completed by Sept. 30 and will affect most of the company’s 600 employees in the Philippines. Its sales and marketing operations there remain.

Akron, Ohio-based Goodyear wants to transfer some tire production to lower-cost plants in the company’s Asia-Pacific Region, but did not specify where within the region. Planned closure of the plant in Las Pinas will end annual production of 2 million tires there.

Goodyear wants to reduce production by 15 million to 25 million units over the next two years.

The company plans to record about $20 million in charges tied to the closure in the third quarter of this year.

Goodyear plans to report its results for the second quarter on July 30.

In this year’s first quarter, Goodyear recorded a loss of $333 million. It lost $330 million in the last three months of 2008.

Shares of Goodyear rose 31 cents, or 2.5 percent, to $12.92 in Friday trading.

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