PNB looks back as it celebrates 100

The Philippine National Bank was a government-owned facility when it was founded in 1916 in the old Masonic Temple in Escolta. In the decades since then, it has grown to become one of the country's largest banks, and along the way became a privately owned institution as well.

Perhaps most interesting are the photos in the book, which give readers a glimpse of pre-war Philippines.

For its centennial this year, the bank has released a coffee-table book that details its history, charting its beginnings as an agricultural bank to becoming "the country's de facto central bank," as the book's authors describe it, and then a national bank.

"A Hundred Years of Excellence" will be launched on Friday, July 1, at the PNB Financial Center on Pres. D. Macapagal Avenue in Pasay City. — BM/AT, GMA News