I haven't flown EWR-SFO-MNL specifically. However, I've flown to Asia using both the nighttime and daytime banks. It's a matter of personal preference; some people prefer to arrive late at night and then try to sleep; some prefer to arrive early in the morning and try to stay up all day. There's no right or wrong answer here.

UA took the landing slots they could get. It's not easy to add flights at NAIA.