PSE Circular for Brokers No. 196-00

January 28, 2000 PSE CIRCULAR FOR BROKERS NO. 196-00 January 27, 2000 Philippine Stock Exchange 4th Floor, PSE Center Pasig City Attention : Ms . Grace B . De Guia Assistant Manager - Disclosure Department Gentlemen: We refer to your letter of January 27, 2000 requesting our clarification or confirmation concerning the article in the Business World (BW) Alcorn keen on retail business, not gaming" published in the same date. We would like to clarify that this is not a pronouncement of the company on any of its business plans. The statement that the company has no interest in the gaming industry is factual. It was in reply to the query of BW on the predominant rumor in the market that APMC is entering into the gaming industry through the Fontana Leisure Park. We felt that it was necessary to clarify this matter because the company has had no such plans. With regards to the statement on the retail business, this again was in response to the query of BW on what businesses APMC is thinking of entering into. Our reply to BW was not limited to the retail business but also included other businesses and that we still are operating our core business of oil and mineral exploration. We would like to point out that that the other items reported in the article did not come from the company and it appears that these were culled from other sources. We hope that this clarifies our position on this subject. Please call me if you have any further questions. prcd Thank you. Very truly yours, (SGD.) PONCIANO K. MATHAY Vice President & General Manager