Philippine Stock Exchange, Inc.

March 17, 1998 PSE CIRCULAR FOR BROKERS NO. 389-98 March 16, 1998 PHILIPPINE STOCK EXCHANGE, INC. Exchange Road, Ortigas Center Pasig, Metro Manila Attention : Maria Isabel T . Garcia Head, Listing Department Gentlemen : We are pleased to announce that the shareholders of Aboitiz Transport Systems, Inc. (ATS), namely Aboitiz & Company and Aboitiz Equity Ventures, have agreed to advance 1.673 billion pesos to reduce the outstanding loans of ATS. The shareholder's advances will be proportional to their ownership in ATS, and AEV's pro-rata share of the temporary advances will be 829 million pesos. LibLex The directors of the shareholder companies agreed to the temporary advances given the current situation where bank lending rates on ATS loans exceed 20% while placement rates for cash holdings of AEV are earning substantially less. The net effect of the advance for AEV is estimated to be a net improvement of about 70 million pesos arising from the differential in interest expense and net interest income. Further, we would like to report to the Commission that the Board of Directors of the Aboitiz Equity Ventures, Inc. (AEV) in a special meeting today, March 15, 1998, unanimously agreed to fix March 2, 1998 as the record date of the stockholders who are entitled to notice of and to vote at the annual stockholders' meeting on May 12, 1998, 4:00 p.m. to be held at the Ballroom, of the Cebu City Marriot Hotel, Cebu City. Thank you for your kind attention. Very truly yours, ABOITIZ EQUITY VENTURES, INC. By: (SGD.) SYLVA G. AGUIRRE-PADERANGA Assistant Corporate Secretary