New BSP Note Issuance

Peso bills redesign adds Cory, landmarks
BusinessWorld
Posted at 12/16/2010 11:52 AM | Updated as of 12/16/2010 1:14 PM


MANILA, Philippines - New peso bills will be unveiled today by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), with former President Corazon C. Aquino and natural landmarks the most prominent design additions.

"Corazon C. Aquino is the only addition to the present faces on the banknotes. She will join her husband [Senator Benigno S. Aquino, Jr.], but take a more prominent place in the P500 bill because she is a former president," said historian Ambeth R. Ocampo, an adviser of the BSP numismatic committee.

"The reverse of the bills has been changed to represent natural landmarks of the Philippines -- Tubbataha reef, Chocolate Hills, etc.," he said in an e-mail.

Mr. Ocampo declined to be more specific about the designs. The BSP also refused to disclose advance details, with Deputy Governor Diwa C. Guinigundo yesterday saying "just wait for it" in Filipino in a text message.

The Tubbataha Reef Marine Park, located in Palawan, has been designated a World Heritage Site by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

The Chocolate Hills in Bohol, meanwhile, is on UNESCO’s tentative list.

Mr. Ocampo said the redesigned bills would have the same color per denomination.

"Present colors will remain but will take on a different tint to give us a sense that these are really NGC or ‘New Generation Currency’," he said .

Mr. Guinigundo, meanwhile, said shipment of the new bills would be done a day after the launch.

"[It] takes time for the shipment to be completed and the banks to receive and release to the market. [The bills] should be available in a week after launching," he said.

While specific dates have yet to be set, roadshows for the new bills will follow in the following areas: Manila, La Union, Cebu and Davao.

The central bank has previously said that current peso bills would remain in circulation for another four years.

The existing 20-peso bill bears the image of former President Manuel L. Quezon with Malacañan Palace on the reverse. The 50-peso bill, meanwhile, shows another former president, Sergio S. Osmeña and the reverse side features the National Museum.
Another former president, Manuel A. Roxas, is on the front of the 100-peso bill, which has the image of the BSP complex on the reverse side.
The face of former President Diosdado P. Macapagal is on the 200-peso bill, the reverse of which shows People Power II and former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo taking her oath.
The 500-peso bill, which carries Mr. Aquino’s image, has on the reverse scenes of the former senator’s life and some allegorical groups.
The 1,000-peso bill has the faces of Jose B. Abad Santos, who served as chief justice; Vicente P. Lim, the first Filipino graduate of West Point; and Josefa Llanes Escoda, one of the founders of the Girl Scouts of the Philippines. The banknote’s reverse features the Banaue Rice Terraces in Ifugao province, a manunggul jar and a langgal hut.
New designs for one-centavo, five-centavo, 10-centavo, 25-centavo, one-peso, five-peso and 10-peso coins are also being studied by the BSP. -- Louella D. Desiderio

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