Philippine National Bank

March 16, 2000 PSE CIRCULAR FOR BROKERS NO. 685-00 SUBJECT : Philippine National Bank Philippine National Bank ("PNB") clarified to the Exchange a news article entitled "PNB's 1999 losses seen at P7.7B" published in the March 16, 2000 issue of the Business World. The article reported that PNB posted P7.7 billion in net losses for 1999, 5.48% higher than P7.3 billion it reported in 1998. Losses were due to the P8.4 billion in loan loss reserves PNB set aside last year in a bid to preserve the quality of its assets. PNB, in its letter, stated that: ". . . PNB's results of operations are still under audit by our external auditors, Punongbayan & Araullo. We, therefore, feel that for a full, fair and factual evaluation of facts, it would be more prudent if we wait until the said audit has been completed. We shall submit the report as soon as it is completed which we expect to be done within this month. . . ." For your information. (SGD.) MARIA ISABEL T. GARCIA OIC, Listings and Disclosure Group