New Generation banknotes violate the Philippine Constitution

I couldn't raise this matter before now as I cannot read Tagalog, but today I received a translation and I found out the new notes are a "slap in the face" to the Philippine Constitution and all non christian Filipinos. The phrase in question “PINAGPALA ANG BAYAN NA ANG DIYOS AY ANG PANGINOON.” (Blessed is the Nation whose God is the Lord.)

By including a phrase from the Christian Bible, the government through the new legal tender, clearly gives preference to that religion. This is an affront to the Constitution, the Bill of Rights and many of the people living in the south of the country.

Section 5 of the Bill of Rights states.... No law shall be made respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof. The free exercise and enjoyment of religious profession and worship, without discrimination or preference, shall forever be allowed. No religious test shall be required for the exercise of civil or political rights.

I have been a collector of Philippine banknotes for over 20 years and done my best to advance the hobby, but now after this....I just don't care anymore. If there is anyone out there that wants to buy a HUGE Philippine banknote collection, please drop me a line

Are you selling your ENTIRE COLLECTION of Philippine Paper Money stated on http://pinoynotes.hostoi.com/?

And so what.

Even banknote is not like coins the message and symbolism is much more important,just a comment.

It is better to have a words coming from the bible than a Godless country.

Marjority rules minority rights,by letter and spirit much better if the leaders are righteous.

What happen to the In God We Trust in USA when someone filled papers in court it was turn down.

Josie, Thanks for taking time to reply, but I think you miss my point of my post.

There has been a huge outcry and a lot of jumping up and down about the mistakes on these notes, which I can accept, and for one reason or another the mistakes might add value to this issue. What I cannot accept is this phrase they included, and Government and the BSP not having the foresight to see this IS against the constition, and it will cause trouble. In the private sector there are always an army of lawyers checking the legal aspects of everything new, here it looks like nobody noticed or cared, are they all lazy or crazy?

Nowhere in my post did I "rubbish" or put down any religion or any god. But you have made some pretty sweeping statements I think I should reply to...

"Even banknote is not like coins the message and symbolism is much more important,just a comment." ....If "just a comment", why include it, couldn't they see the problems it might cause?

"It is better to have a words coming from the bible than a Godless country" ...I guess this might be a suggestion that a country like mine, Australia, where the Prime Minister is a Left Wing Atheist, only 10% bother with church, and the easiest way to loose friends is mention religion, isn't as good as a country that has been blessed. All I can say to this is my son is seven years old and he has never seen a gun bigger than a policemans small pistol, or any army personal in the street accept unarmed helping to clean up after a flood or fire. Only one political murder has ever been commited. And while I stay home and look after my son the government pays me US$220 per week. Not bad for a godless country.

"Marjority rules minority rights,by letter and spirit much better if the leaders are righteous" ....A person can be "righteous" and not religious, (Didn't Marcos go to church?).

"What happen to the In God We Trust in USA when someone filled papers in court it was turn down" ....Two wrongs don't make a right. Of course they'll keep that saying, so they can keep the joke...In god we trust, all others pay cash.

It all boils down to no matter what anyone says about the constitution or "the law", it's just not fair on other religions. As a christian Josie you might think it's OK and no harm done, but you have to put yourself in a non christians shoes.

I myself don't care what religion gets a mention, couldn't care less, but what's right is right.

An outcry,what outcry like the Godless florin or the coin during roosevelt.

First time first case writting a cristian slogan will make an outcry.

So the Goverment in the Philippine all of them are Publicans or athiest?

Majority in the Philippine are Cristian.

Any written history about first cristian goes to philippine before spaniard.

How nice to have a gift of tongue so other people with other language can understand.

Back to the original post in this thread. Sorry you feel that way.

One hopes you will reconsider the last sentence in your message.

Kalookan

Kalookan wrote:: Back to the original post in this thread. Sorry you feel that way.

One hopes you will reconsider the last sentence in your message.

Kalookan

No Worries Kaloonkan, I've accepted the fact that no matter what anyone does or says the church is always going to stick their nose into everything Fillipino, even if it is against the laws of the Philippines.

Besides that, my collection is so large (only a small part is listed at my website) I don't think I could ever find someone rich enough and dumb enough to buy it all.

After collecting Philippine banknotes for nearly half my life I wouldn't know what to do with myself if I stopped.

I'm hooked, too. In a good way.

I accept your views as being sincere, even when I don't agree.

The new BSP notes help keep our numismatics interesting!

Kalookan wrote:: I'm hooked, too. In a good way.

I accept your views as being sincere, even when I don't agree.

The new BSP notes help keep our numismatics interesting!

Kalooan, Thanks for your reply

You said "I accept your views as being sincere, even when I don't agree." This is my whole point, not all Filipinos would agree with the phrase in question, but it seems that doesn't matter to the people who put this on the notes, I wonder what the reaction would be if the notes had an Islamic phrase on them? You can't have phrases from all religions, so to be fair you shouldn't have any.

If I was going to put a phrase on a banknote it would be something like....Only one religion can be right, but they all can be wrong. That's fair to everyone.

Nagtataka ako sa reaksyon ni Pinoynotes...hindi naman siya Filipino pero ang tindi ng reaksyon niya. Meron naman tayong mga Muslim members dito pero wala naman silang reaksyon.

Good point, Newbie. Salamat sa iyong isipan.

Some people might wonder why a non Filipino like myself should worry so much about this. It's simple, I love the Philippines. What I don't like is how the church holds back progress in the country. It's not just in the Philippines, and it's not just the christian church. If you look around the world, countries that let religion get involved with the running of the country, well, that country suffers. It's in the religions interest to keep things the way they are. If it wasn't for a few brave men and women standing up to the church, we would still think the earth was flat and at the center of the universe.

I must admit I'm surprised by the lack of people attacking what I've said at this forum, maybe my views are not that rare.

let's just make it clear though. the church does not influence the people as you might think... Very Happy

Some of the coins in roman times are with symbolism of there god and godesses,they have a saying family first,father,mother, son or daughter,sometimes in there coins that a man and a woman,the emperor the wife or the mother,just like father land mother land,or filipina symbolising the country or nation in a coin a maiden or a woman,just like other like other example Babylon and the good one Jerusalem,on Philippine point of view Filipina or the qoute in the new banknotes.

just throwing in my two cents here. imho, pinoynotes1 does have a point. most of our national heroes have actually fought this exact same issue during the spanish regime. the same heroes whose faces we see on our local currency. having the church and government as a single entity isn't really for the best of the people's interest. it tends to promote religious bias and racial discrimination.

i'm a flipino myself and raised by my grandparents who are devout catholics, but having the chance to befriend a lot of hindu, buddhists, muslims, and even free-thinkers (or atheists), it made me realize that the world is full of diverse people of different races, different religions, different points of view (but pretty cool and awesome people nevertheless).

all i'm saying here is, religion should be kept within the institution of the church (and maybe up to the institution of the family; that's your choice). the church doesn't belong in the government. the government has to take care of everyone. every single member of the country including gays and atheists. put the church in the government and it's noli me tangere and el filibusterismo all over again. Wink

anyways, based on experience, the worst two things to debate about are religion and race. unfortunately this issue has both. let's just listen to what each other is saying. the catholic church is awesome. yes. but throwing that in the face of all the other non-catholic filipinos (via the national currency), it's just not fair. think about it.