Manila Bulletin Online (mb.com.ph)
Manila Bulletin Online (mb.com.ph) is the fifth most-read news website in the Philippines as of the second quarter of 2023. It is the online platform of the broadsheet Manila Bulletin, one of the oldest newspapers in the Philippines. Owned by the Manila Bulletin Publishing Corporation, the site can be accessed for free.
As of the second quarter of 2023, it had an audience share of 11.51%, according to the Consumer and Media View survey for news websites under Nielsen’s Media Landscape Report.
It also ranks 8th among all news websites that Filipinos access every week based on the 2023 Digital News Report on the Philippine media landscape of Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism.
The Manila Bulletin Online carries articles covering a wide range of topics: politics, crimes, technology, lifestyle, business and finance, and sports. It also has a strong opinion and editorial section, as well as a classifieds section.
Ownership
U.S. Automotive Co., Inc., owned by the Yap family, is the “ultimate parent” company of Manila Bulletin Publishing Corporation.
U.S Automotive Co., Inc (54.20%), USAUTOCO Inc. (23.34%) and the Menzi Trust Fund, Inc. (8.42%) are the top three shareholders of the Manila Bulletin Publishing Corporation as of September 2023. The company is led by Basilio C. Yap as the chairman of the board of directors, taking over the position from his father, Dr. Emilio T. Yap, who passed away in 2014.
Hans Menzi relinquished ownership of the company in 1961. Businessman and philanthropist Emilio took over the ownership, and would serve as chairman of the publicly-listed company until his death.
History
Four years short of its centennial anniversary, Manila Bulletin Publishing Corporation moved to expand its broadsheet’s reach by going online. The online news portal (mb.com.ph) of the longest-running English daily newspaper in the country was born in 1996.
The website not only carried the articles produced by the newspaper’s staff but also published corporate documents of its company.
Mindful of the decline in print media readership, and with the public now turning to online sources and social media for news and information instead of the traditional dailies, Manila Bulletin kept up with the emerging trend and habits in news consumption.
In April 2023, it revamped its website combining the features of traditional online news sites and social media “to give its readers a fresh, dynamic experience…” Among the website’s new features is a “dynamic live updates board” on its homepage that automatically updates the Manila Bulletin’s list of newly published articles. It also put up video-oriented sections: the “Stories” section featuring videos “to help combat fake news on video” and the “MBTV” section presenting news updates in video format and its “Kapihan sa MB” recordings.
The Manila Bulletin has also partnered with different organizations including the government for certain advocacy campaigns. In June 2023, it announced a partnership with the Department of Information and Communications Technology to offer robotics education to children aged nine to twelve through workshops and seminars.
A month later, it announced the launching of an anti-cyber scam movement called “Scam Watch Pilipinas” or #ScamWatchPH in partnership with management start-up, Truth360. The movement, which is co-founded by Manila Bulletin technology editor Art Samaniego, will be officially launched in the fourth quarter of 2023.
Audience Share
11.51%
Ownership Type
Private
Geographic Coverage
National
Content Type
Free content
Media Companies / Groups
Manila Bulletin Publishing Corporation
Ownership Structure
Manila Bulletin Online (mb.com.ph) is owned by Manila Bulletin Publishing Corporation. As of September 2023, 78.09 % of shares are owned by the Yap family through the U.S Automotive Co., Inc (54.20%) and USAUTOCO Inc. (23.34%). The Menzi Trust Fund, Inc. owns 8.42%.
Voting Rights
Every stockholder entitled to vote shall be entitled to one vote for each share of stock. Stockholders are also given the option to vote via online (in absentia) or through their duly authorized attorney or a proxy.
Individual Owner
Group / Individual Owner
Menzi Trust Fund, Inc.
Menzi Trust Fund, Inc. is a trust company that oversees the assets and investments of the late Manila Bulletin publisher/owner Hans Menzi and its Foundation. According to its general information sheet, the foundation’s primary purpose is to “to promote, carry on, conduct and encourage the advancement and development of education, scientific research and training . . . Scholarships.” It also owns stocks in BDO (00.01%).
PCD Nominee Corporation
The Manila Bulletin Publishing Corporation did not disclose who are the holder/s of the 5.11% shares entered into the PCD Nominee Corporation, which is a financial holding corporation that holds legal title to immobilized shares lodged in the Philippine Central Depository, Inc. system and operates as a subsidiary of Philippine Central Depository.
General Information
Founding Year
1996
Affiliated Interests Founder
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Affiliated Interests Ceo
is the president of Manila Bulletin Publishing Corporation. He is the first grandson of the company’s late former chairman and his namesake Emilio T. Yap and the nephew of the incumbent chairman Basilio C. Yap. He holds various positions in the Yap family’s conglomerate as the vice chairman/president of the Bulletin’s ultimate parent company US Automotive Co., Inc., and its subsidiaries USAUTOCO, Inc., Manila Prince Hotel Corporation, Cocusphil Development Corporation. He also serves as a board director of Centro Escolar University and vice chairman of Philtrust Bank and Manila Hotel.
Affiliated Interests Editor-In-Chief
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Affiliated Interests other important people
currently sits as executive vice president, is a member of the board of directors and is the compliance officer of the Manila Bulletin Publishing Corporation. He has held these multiple positions since 2016, and was also named publisher in May 2021.
The businessman-educator served under three Philippine presidents — Corazon Aquino (1986 - 1992), Joseph Estrada (1998 - 2001), and Benigno Aquino III (2010 - 2016). He held several positions during the first Aquino administration (head of the Presidential Management Staff, deputy executive secretary, and undersecretary for the Departments of Transportation and Agrarian Reform). He was again appointed as transportation undersecretary during the Estrada administration. Coloma later served as communications secretary and presidential spokesperson during the second Aquino presidency.
As an educator, he served as dean for executive education, and program director for development management at the Asian Institute of Management, and as the sixth president of the University of Makati from 1996 to 1999. A member of the Rotary Philippines, Coloma serves as editor-in-chief of the organization’s monthly magazine.
was the 20th chief justice of the Philippine Supreme Court from 1998 to 2005, has been serving as an independent director and one of three vice chairpersons of Manila Bulletin Publishing Corporation since March 2011.
He has held various positions in government, notably as a commissioner of the 1986 Constitutional Commission which drafted the 1987 Constitution of the Philippines and chairperson of the Commission on Elections from 1988 to 1990.
At present, he is a board director at Philtrust Bank and independent director at the Megawide Construction Corporation. He chairs the Chief Justice Claudio Teehankee Memorial Foundation, Inc., Heart of Francis Foundation Inc., and Kompass Credit and Financing Corporation.
He is also a trustee of Knights of Columbus of the Philippines Foundation, Inc.; Knights of Columbus Fr. George J. Willmann, SJ Charities, Inc., and University of San Carlos (Cebu). Davide is supreme commander emeritus and a member of the Council of Elders of the Knights of Rizal. He is also a member of the Association of Retired Justices of the Supreme Court of the Philippines, serving as its president from 2010 to June 2020.
who was elected as vice chairman and independent director of Manila Bulletin Publishing Corporation in July 2011, was a senator from 1987 to 1998.
He has held several government portfolios, including budget secretary (1986 - 1987); finance secretary (January - June 2001); executive secretary (June 2001 - August 2004); and foreign affairs secretary (2004 - 2011).
In December 2022, Romulo was replaced by former associate justice Dante Tiñga as chairman of the Development Bank of the Philippines, which he occupied since 2017.
an independent director at the Manila Bulletin Publishing Corporation since July 2017, was a legislative representative of Pangasinan’s 4th district from 2010 to 2016. She is the chairperson of the INA Foundation, Inc., director of Sampaguita Pictures, Inc., and independent director of Philtrust Bank.
an independent director of Manila Bulletin Publishing Corporation since September 2020, is a former member of the Monetary Board of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) from 2014 to 2020. He has served various positions in the BSP including deputy governor and general counsel from 2010 to 2013 and general counsel from 2000 to 2010. He is currently a private sector representative in the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corporation since 2021, and is a senior counsel at Divina Law Office since 2020.
a retired police chief superintendent and former regional police director, is the vice president for administration of the Manila Bulletin Publishing Corporation. He joined the company in 2014.
Contact
Manila Bulletin Building
Muralla corner Recoletos Streets
Intramuros, Manila
Philippines
Telephone: +63 (0) 8527-8121
Website: www.mb.com.ph
Financial Information
Revenue (in Mill. $)
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Operating Profit (in Mill. $)
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Advertising (in % of total funding)
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Market Share
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Further Information
Meta Data
Audience share is based on Consumer & Media View survey for news websites under Nielsen’s Philippine Media Landscape Report for Quarter 2 of 2023.
Manila Bulletin Publishing Corporation’s annual report 2022 did not provide a breakdown for operating profit and advertising revenue per each of its newspapers and magazines.
The year of creation of mb.com.ph is according to Manila Bulletin technology editor and information and communication technology head Art Samaniego Jr. and the archived versions of the website on Wayback Machine (archive.org).
The list of shareholders of the Manila Bulletin Publishing Corporation is obtained from its Nov. 14, 2023 quarterly report submitted to the Philippine Stock Exchange. The shares owned by the Yap family only comprise those owned by its members and companies.
Conversion rate on Oct. 17, 2023: PhP56.836 per US$1.
Sources
Media Landscape Report for Quarter 2, 2023, available upon purchase from Nielsen Company (US), LLC
