Philippinas will change their money

The Bangko Sentral ng Philippinas (BSP) said that it will distribute the initial batch of "new money", or redesigned local banknotes, in December and the new coins starting 2012 as part of efforts to guard against counterfeiters.

Also, the BSP said it will launch a nationwide information campaign would be undertaken by monetary authorities to educate Filipinos on how to tell genuine banknotes from counterfeits.

In a primer on the launch of the new banknotes and coins, BSP said that they decided to upgrade the security features of all banknotes to make it easier for the public to detect fake money.

"As a matter of practice, central banks regularly change the designs of their money - whether coins or banknotes - to guard against counterfeiters. By making it very difficult and costly for counterfeiters to produce exact copies of our money, we protect the integrity of our currency against criminals," the BSP said.

The central bank said all six banknote denominations including P20, P50, P100, P200, P500, and P1,000 would have new designs while coins denominations such as one centavo, five centavos, 10 centavos, 25 centavos. P1, P5, and P10 would also have new designs.

But BSP has yet to divulge the new design. But the Numismatic Committee composed of central bank officials led by BSP deputy governor Diwa Guinigundo said that they decided to include natural wonders in the new banknotes and coins.

The new banknotes would pay tribute to Filipinos who played significant roles at various moments of our nation’s history and would also feature world heritage sites and iconic natural wonders of the Philippines.

Also. BSP earlier said that the new P500 bill would also include a portrait of the late President Corazon Aquino beside former Sen. Aquino.

The BSP added that the new coins would also feature national symbols.

There are currently six banknotes that are in wide circulation.

These include the blue-colored P1,000 bill which features World War II heroes Jose Abad Santos, Josefa Llanes Escoda and Gen. Vicente Lim introduced in 1991; the yellow P500 bill with the late Sen. Benigno Aquino introduced in 1987; and the green P200 with the late President Diosdado Macapagal and President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo issued in 2002.

There is also the purple P100 with President Roxas issued in 1987; the red P50 with President Osmena introduced in 1987; and the orange P20 with former President Quezon issued in 1986.

The brown P10 with Apolinario Mabini first issued in 1985; and the P5 bill with Emilio Aguinaldo are no longer being produced but are still legal tenders.

Last year, the BSP announced that it was contemplating a massive face lift for banknotes and coins that were circulated three decades ago to further enhance security features and improve durability.

Earlier, Guinigundo said the present banknotes would remain in circulation and would continue to be accepted as legal tender for at least three more years.

He explained that the BSP’s previous currency retirement or demonetization program would give enough time for the public to make a full transition to the new generation currency.

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