Philippines issues US$1.5 billion SEC-registered Global Bonds

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A March 22, 2011 press release prepared by the Department of Finance

The Republic of the Philippines successfully accessed the international capital markets with its offering of US$1.5 billion 15-year U.S. SEC-registered Global Bonds.

The newly issued bonds, which were priced at 99.495 percent with a coupon of 5.500 percent and a yield of 5.550 percent, will mature in March 2026.

The book-building process for the offering took approximately ten hours. The geographical break-down of the final allocations were 22 percent from the Philippines, 18 percent from the rest of Asia, 30percent from the U.S. and 30percent from Europe.

Finance Secretary Cesar V. Purisima commented, “The Philippines moved swiftly to access the USD bond market and achieve low-cost, long-dated offshore funding. This continues the Republic’s pro-active stance in managing its sovereign debt, extending its debt maturity profile during uncertain times for the global economy.”

Treasurer of the Philippines Roberto B. Tan added that, “We are very pleased with the response to the transaction, with strong investor interest enabling the Republic to successfully establish a new 15-year benchmark on its USD yield curve. The deal was significantly oversubscribed from 280 prospective investors, evidencing the confidence of the international investor community in the economic and financial prospects of the Philippines.”

Goldman Sachs (Asia) L.L.C. and HSBC acted as joint global coordinators for the transaction. Citi, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs (Asia) L.L.C., HSBC, J.P.Morgan and UBS were the joint book-runners.

This press release does not constitute an offer to sell, or the solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of the Republic’s bonds in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction. This press release is not an offer of securities for sale in the United States, and bonds of the Republic may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an exemption from registration under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. Any offering of bonds by the Republic in the United States would be made by means of a prospectus, which would be obtainable from the Republic and would contain detailed information about the Republic, including certain statistical and other economic data. The Republic has registered the proposed offering in the United States.