Bank launches first business library in Cebu

CEBU, Philippines - The Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) has opened to public Cebu's first business library and launched a coffee table book revealing the evolution of the coins and banknotes of the Philippines.

In Thursday's launching of the book "Salapi," BPI chairman Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala said that BPI, being one of the oldest banking institutions in Southeast Asia, bears the duty to tell the people how the historical coins and banknotes are intertwined with the Philippine economy in general.

"We're not a bank that sits on the past-we reflect on the past and focus on the future. Education is a thrust close to the BPI family's heart, and when you mix education with history, you create something lasting," said Ayala.

Salapi is written by Jose Eleazar Bersales and Carlos Apuhin. University of San Carlos (USC) vice president Fr. Generoso Rebayla Jr. contributed photographs to further accentuate the book that is considered the first of its kind ever to be produced in the country.

The book also hosts exclusive images from the rare collections of BPI and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Money museum and peeks at the private archives of some of the local and foreign collectors.

Officials said the book tells the story of the country from a unique perspective, as seen in the kinds of money that has been used and exchanged over the centuries.

Meanwhile, the BPI Library Cebu is primarily positioned as a business library and features books on economics, finance, management and trade, said BPI Foundation executive director Florendo Maranan.

The library will be managed by the USC which is set to provide users with access to USC's wide collection of books in its library system in Cebu. The USC campus in Barangay Talamban, Cebu City is home to the country's largest library system.

Maranan said the idea of putting up a library of this kind in Cebu stemmed from Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama's request to BPI to donate the area at the top of the bank's Cebu Main branch, which the city government has long intended to use as a site of a planned city library.

The library is located in a neo-classical building designed by noted architect Juan Arellano. The interiors of the library feature high ceiling and wide and tall glass windows.

There will also be a section dedicated to Cebu's culture, as well as a children's reading area.

BPI or Banco de las Islas Filipinas  was officially known in 1912. According to its website, the Spanish version of the bank's new name was in use until decades later, since Spanish remained as one of the official languages of the Philippines up to 1987.

Under the American administration, the bank was allowed to continue issuing Philippine pesos, although no longer on an exclusive basis.

In 1969, the Ayala Corporation, previously known as Ayala y Compañia, which had been associated with the bank since the start, either through a partner or a representative sitting on the board, became the dominant shareholder group.

Following this change in the ownership structure, BPI soon became the financial flagship of the Ayala Group of Companies. (FREEMAN)