BSP officially rolls out the new PHL bank notes

CEBU, Philippines - The Bangko Sentral Ng Pilipinas (BSP) has officially rolled out the new bank notes of six Philippine peso bill denominations to the Cebu public.

Led by BSP deputy governor Diwa Guinigundo, the country’s Central Bank assured of enhanced features of the bills which are designed to eradicate the manufacture of counterfeits.

A total of 702 million new bills in the denominations of P20, P50, P100, P200, P500 and P1,000, will be widely circulated in the market. In fact, some denominations had been out since December last year.

The Philippine government spent at least P4 to P5 in the making of every new bill, said Guinigundo.

Dubbed as the New Generation Currency (NGC) bank notes, these are hard or even impossible to copy, with its enhanced security features Guinigundo assured the public during the public presentation of the new bills in Cebu held at the BSP regional office here, attended by multi-sectoral groups.

BSP started shipping loads of new bills to regional areas in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.

The old currency bank notes however can still be accepted until 2013. But, Guinigundo encouraged the public to circulate the new bills, instead of hoarding them.

All the bills continue to have these security features: embossed prints, serial numbers, security fibers and threads, and watermark. But new security features include the word “Pilipino” written in “Baybayin,” a pre-Spanish writing system, and the Republic of the Philippines seal.

The bills also feature a ‘woven cloth’ design, which is different for each denomination.

The back of the P20 bill shows the Banaue Rice Terraces and an animal, Palm Civet or ‘Alamid’ in local language.

The now darker red P50 bill meanwhile shows Taal Lake and Maliputo, a fish that thrives only in the waters of the lake.

The back of the purple P100 bill shows ‘perfect cone’ Mayon Volcano and a Butanding, a whale shark that is a main attraction in Sorsogon.

The green P200 bill shows Bohol Chocolate Hills and the world’s smallest primate found in the Philippines, the Tarsier.

Former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s photo taking oath is now in front of the P200 bill but is almost not visible.

The P1000 bill features the Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park and a South Sea Pearl.

It took three years for BSP to finally conceptualize the designs and features of the NGC bank notes, and also the first currency design which was approved by two Presidents.

The new bills continue to honor great Filipinos like former presidents Manuel Quezon, Sergio Osmeña, Manuel Roxas, and Diosdado Macapagal. Former senator Ninoy Aquino, and war heroes Josefa Llanes Escoda, Vicente Lim, and Jose Abad Santos are also featured on the bills.

However, the P500 bill now features former President Corazon Aquino, whose photo is placed beside her husband, Ninoy. (FREEMAN)