Noy bank notes to be presented Friday

MANILA, Philippines – Bank notes bearing the signature of President Aquino would be presented on Friday.

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Amando Tetangco Jr. will present the bank notes in a ceremony in Malacañang. The BSP has yet to give details of the issuance.

The release of the notes took several months since Aquino’s assumption of office in June because the BSP wanted to make sure there would be no misprinting of the new bank notes.

In 2005, Oberthur Technologies, a European printer commissioned by the BSP, misprinted the name of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on 80 million copies of P100 bills.

The name of the former chief executive was spelled as “Arrovo.” Some 2.092 million pieces had been circulated before the error was discovered.

The bank notes to be presented on Friday belong to the old series because the BSP will distribute the first batch of the redesigned bank notes in December, while the new coins would be circulated in 2012. The security features of the notes and coins have been upgraded to make it easier for the public to detect fraud.

Six bank notes are in circulation. These are the blue-colored P1, 000 bill issued in 1991 bearing the image of World War II heroes Jose Abad Santos, Josefa Llanes Escoda, and Gen. Vicente Lim; the yellow P500 bill issued in 1987 with the image of the late Sen. Benigno Aquino; and the green P200 issued in 2002 with the image of the late President Diosdado Macapagal and President Arroyo.

There is also the purple P100 issued in 1987 with the image of President Manuel Roxas; the red P50 issued in 1987 bearing the image of President Osmeña; and the orange P20 with the image of former President Manuel Quezon issued in 1986.

No longer produced but still considered legal tender are the brown P10 with the image of Apolinario Mabini first issued in 1985, and the green P5 bill with the image of Emilio Aguinaldo.

Present banknotes would be accepted as legal tender for three more years.