Rates & Bonds
A sharper strategy for bond investors in Q1
The recently released borrowing schedule offers opportunities for bond investors
by Earl Andrew Aguirre
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(Editor’s Note: This story was updated on February 10, 2026, to reflect a change in the 7-year bond auction for the month.)
For the first time, the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) has announced specific bond series months in advance, and not a week prior to auction.
What does this mean?
It means there is a strategic opportunity for investors to plan their bond investments more precisely. It means more liquidity, easier to buy and sell bonds. It will help them manage their cash and give them clues to the yields or returns.
Our bond traders believe that the BTr has started to disclose the security series in order to establish deeper benchmarks for their offerings, as opposed to previous auctions which sometimes reissued totally different bonds of similar tenors.
More liquidity
A benchmark is a standard. Certain government bonds become the benchmark that institutions use to price financial instruments such as corporate bonds and mortgages. Deeper benchmarks mean the government will sell more of the same specific bond series, leading to more liquidity as investors with benchmark bonds can easily buy and sell them at a fair price.
Here is a list of the old and new benchmark bonds:
Outgoing Benchmarks
Outgoing Benchmarks
Category
3 Years
Bond Shortname
FXTN 7-64
Int’l Securities Identification Number
PIBD0728D649
Maturity Date
22-Apr-28
Gross Coupon Rate
3.625%
Category
5 Years
Bond Shortname
FXTN 7-70
Int’l Securities Identification Number
PH0000057218
Maturity Date
27-Jul-30
Gross Coupon Rate
6.375%
Category
7 Years
Bond Shortname
FXTN 10-69
Int’l Securities Identification Number
PIBD1032I695
Maturity Date
15-Sep-32
Gross Coupon Rate
6.750%
Category
10 Years
Bond Shortname
FXTN 10-73*
Int’l Securities Identification Number
PH0000060345
Maturity Date
28-Apr-35
Gross Coupon Rate
6.375%
New and Retained Benchmarks
New and Retained Benchmarks
Category
3 Years
Bond Shortname
FXTN 7-65
Int’l Securities Identification Number
PIBD0728H654
Maturity Date
12-Aug-28
Gross Coupon Rate
3.750%
Category
5 Years
Bond Shortname
FXTN 7-71
Int’l Securities Identification Number
PH0000058125
Maturity Date
18-Jan-31
Gross Coupon Rate
6.125%
Category
7 Years
Bond Shortname
FXTN 20-20
Int’l Securities Identification Number
PIBD2033C206
Maturity Date
21-Mar-33
Gross Coupon Rate
3.625%
Category
10 Years
Bond Shortname
To be auctioned on 18 Feb 2026
Int’l Securities Identification Number
N/A
Maturity Date
N/A
Gross Coupon Rate
N/A
Category
20 Years
Bond Shortname
FXTN 20-27
Int’l Securities Identification Number
PH0000058786
Maturity Date
23-May-44
Gross Coupon Rate
6.875%
Category
25 Years
Bond Shortname
FXTN 25-12
Int’l Securities Identification Number
PH0000059891
Maturity Date
30-Jan-50
Gross Coupon Rate
6.375%
*Note that FXTN 10-73 will continue to be the 10-year benchmark until a new bond will be auctioned on February 18, 2026. FXTNs 20-27 and 25-12 will also remain the 20- and 25-year benchmarks, respectively. However, unlike in older borrowing schedules, the BTr did not disclose how much volume of each bond or tenor it plans to award. Instead, the BTr has just announced the aggregate volume per month – up to PHP 160 billion, PHP 200 billion, and PHP 140 billion for January, February, and March, respectively. This is expected to give the BTr more flexibility in in deciding which bonds and tenors should receive more supply.
Update: For the 7-year bond auction on February 10, 2026, the BTr has decided to reissue FXTN 10-71 instead of FXTN 20-20, originally announced at the beginning of the year. We believe that the change in benchmark may be due to FXTN 20-20 trading at a deep discount, implying that the BTr will be raising less than their planned borrowings. On the other hand, FXTN 10-71 has a higher coupon and is currently trading at a premium.
Category
7 Years
Bond Shortname
FXTN 10-71
Int’l Securities Identification Number
PH0000057374
Maturity Date
17-Aug-33
Gross Coupon Rate
6.625%
Despite the change in the February 7-year auction, the BTr has not officially announced whether FXTN 10-71 will also be the 7-year bond to be auctioned on March 10, 2026. Please continue to engage your investment specialist or follow Wealth Insights for more updates.
If you have a bond portfolio to manage, you can take a look at the BTr’s borrowing schedule for the first quarter of 2026.
If you wish to start your wealth journey with us and safeguard your bond portfolio, you may go to any Metrobank branch.
(Disclaimer: This is general investment information only and does not constitute an offer or guarantee, with all investment decisions made at your own risk. The bank takes no responsibility for any potential losses.)
EARL ANDREW “EA” AGUIRRE is the Head of the Investment Counselor Department under the Financial Markets Sector of Metrobank. He has more than a decade of experience in foreign exchange, fixed income securities, and derivatives sales. He has a Master’s in Business Administration from the Ateneo Graduate School of Business. His interests include regularly traveling to Japan and learning its language and culture.