BOSTON, Jan. 2 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Four John Hancock closed-end funds declared their monthly dividends today as follows: Declaration Date: January 2, 2008 Ex Date: January 10, 2008 Record Date: January 14, 2008 Payable Date: January 31, 2008 Annualized Rate Change Yield at from Previous Ticker Fund Name Amount Market* Month PDT Patriot Premium Dividend Fund II $0.0480 5.79 % - HPI Preferred Income Fund $0.1550 9.81 % - HPF Preferred Income Fund II $0.1550 9.94 % - HPS Preferred Income Fund III $0.1320 8.78 % - The Boston-based mutual fund business unit of John Hancock Financial Services, John Hancock Funds manages more than $59 billion in open-end funds, closed-end funds, private accounts, retirement plans and related party assets for individual and institutional investors at September 30, 2007. For more information, please visit http://www.jhfunds.com/. About Manulife Financial and John Hancock John Hancock Financial Services is a unit of Manulife Financial Corporation, a leading Canadian-based financial services group serving millions of customers in 19 countries and territories worldwide. Operating as Manulife Financial in Canada and Asia, and primarily through John Hancock in the United States, the company offers clients a diverse range of financial protection products and wealth management services through its extensive network of employees, agents and distribution partners. Funds under management by Manulife Financial and its subsidiaries were Cdn$399 billion (US$400.5 billion) at September 30, 2007. Manulife Financial Corporation trades as 'MFC' on the TSX, NYSE and PSE, and under '0945' on the SEHK. Manulife Financial may be found on the Internet at http://www.manulife.com/. *Based on December 31, 2007 closing market price DATASOURCE: John Hancock Advisers, LLC CONTACT: Kimberley Dietrich, +1-617-663-4217, or Investors, +1-800-843-0090, both of John Hancock Advisers, LLC Web site: http://www.manulife.com/ http://www.jhfunds.com/

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