‘Coins for Three’ in Pangasinan

LINGAYEN, Pangasinan Philippines --- The provincial steering committee of the 24th National Statistics Month Celebration (NSM) of Pangasinan, with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), is now accepting coins for the “Coins for Three” to generate awareness on the importance of re-circulating these legal tender.

NSM chair Antonio Sison said that participants can submit their coins at the Provincial Planning and Development Office at the 2nd floor of the Malong Building of the Capitol Compound here until Oct. 30.

Sison, who has enjoined the participation of all local and national agencies in Pangasinan including private organizations, said the project will be spearheaded by the BSP in coordination with the provincial government of Pangasinan.

The BSP said that despite the total of 19.5 billion pieces of coins in circulation as of Dec. 31, 2012 with the ratio of 238 coins per Filipino, there is still a perceived shortage of coins, and getting the exact currency change seems difficult.

The “Coins for Three” will generate awareness on the importance of re-circulating coins and flush out unused coins stored in piggybanks and garapons (storage buckets) to put them back in circulation. This way, the savings will be generated in coin production to let the public get exact change in their transactions.