Philippine Airlines Flying to NYC Rumor Debunked

There is a rumor running around the intertubes that Philippine Airlines will soon start service between Manila and New York. Unfortunately this is false.

The airline posted messages to its Facebook wall and its Twitter account teasing of a Phantom of the Opera promotion the airline is running in New York. Nowhere does it say that the airline is starting service to New York.

When someone asked about it on Twitter, the airline explicitly stated that it is just a promotion for Valentine's Day and that details will be revealed this coming week.

Most likely PAL will fly the winners from Manila to San Francisco or LAX on a regular PAL flight, and then connect them to New York on another airline.

PAL formerly flew between Manila and Newark but discontinued the route due to poor performance.

When did Philippine come to Newark, and where was the stop, ANC? There's a decenly-sized Filipino community in the area (more on the NJ side than in NYC), but I'm guessing that route generates no premium traffic at all.