North Luzon folk warned vs fake peso bills

BAGUIO CITY — Beware, fakers of peso bills have gone high-tech, too.

They use the real P10 bill manipulated through imported machines, and the resulting bill can really pass cursory standards because they have watermarks and metal strips, too.

"But when you hold it against the light or under black light, the watermark is not distinct but fuzzy, and it displays the face of Apolinario Mabini, not Benigno Aquino," said Chit Eslao, North Luzon area sales director of the Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI).

Eslao said the counterfeiters have a way of erasing the P10 marking and then print either P100, P500 or even, P1,000.

Rey Abellada, manager of BPI Session Road branch, said these counterfeit bills really pass as real money in plain view because they feel like real bills.

"They (the fakers) use reinforced paper from the P10 bill, instead of plain paper," he added.

The bank executives said the fakers have bought imported machines to alter checks, too.

"They can lift signatures, change the amounts, and even change the dates for post-dated checks, and then paste them on regular checks so they could be encashed," Eslao said.

The banking sector aired the warning during a meeting here of the Cordillera chapter of the North Philippines Business Council. — Artemio Dumlao