THE BANGKO SENTRAL ng Pilipinas (BSP) is looking to release banknotes bearing the signatures of President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. and central bank chief Felipe M. Medalla.
The new banknotes will be presented by the central bank to Malacañang in the first or second week of December, Mr. Medalla said on the sidelines of the BSP’s Stakeholders Appreciation ceremony on Tuesday evening.
These will be under the New Generation Currency (NGC) series of the central bank. The series has been the designated money for general circulation in denominations of P20, P50, P100, P200, P500, and P1,000.
In 2020, the BSP launched the enhanced NGC banknotes featuring the latest anti-counterfeiting technology. It also aimed to help the elderly and the visually impaired.
Mr. Marcos won the presidency in the May elections and assumed office on June 30. Mr. Medalla became the central bank governor as appointed by Mr. Marcos, replacing former BSP chief Benjamin E. Diokno, who now heads the Department of Finance.
The local currency has been bearing the signatures of the Philippine president and the central bank governor since 1949.
Meanwhile, the BSP is also circulating 500 million pieces of P1,000 polymer banknotes in phases until June 2023.
The limited circulation test is meant to assess if the benefits reaped by other countries from using polymer bills will also be seen in the local setting.
According to the central bank, the new banknote is cleaner, and stronger than the current paper banknotes and can boost efforts against counterfeiting. — Keisha B. Ta-asan