Anti-Bacterial, Environment Friendly, & Economical New Notes

Recent interviews of the designer of the new Philippine banknotes Lito Bunag himself, defend that the the details of the new banknotes was not intentionally undermining important facts and empirical data. Somehow, critics have affected the decision of the BSP to release the new banknotes. New notes have never seen mass circulation and have been obtainable only through online auctions such as Ebay or directly from either banks or the Central Bank.

The errors were not directly admitted by the designer but Design Systemat President Lito Buñag said, “Bank note printing is not like printing a brochure,” as his respond to critics citing that the new bills were intended for cultural icons’ representation and were not exact renditions of reality.

If we want to make the Philippine map that specific and accurate we would have had to draw all 7,000 islands,” deputy governor Diwa Gunigundo said in a radio interview. “What we wanted to do was abstract the general location of all these important parts of the Philippines.”

“We know that as in all major undertakings, there will be questions raised, as well as very specific recommendations on how it should be,” the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) stated. “[But] We take pride in our newly-designed banknotes that honor Filipinos who played significant roles at various moments of our nation’s history as well as the world heritage sites and iconic natural wonders we are proud of as Filipinos,” it added.

Lito Bunag instead boast some exceptional features of the new notes that have incorporated nationalism and economics, concern for the environment, and new technology. Bunag enumerated the three exceptional features of the new notes. Foremost, is the material used for the production of the notes which came from indigenous materials such as abaca, a native fiber in the Philippines.

The usage of the material does not only give importance for the love of our country but for economic reason, this will also help local farmers and other concerned industry since there will be no more importation of vital components aside from the fact that BSP will definitely save a relative sum of money.

Secondly, the new notes are also environment friendly because it is made of biodegradable materials which is very important especially today that the BSP still allocates a portion of their budget for the disposal and incineration of dilapidated and torn notes.

Finally, it is also anti-bacterial which is makes it more safe for mass circulation since we all know that money is one of the major carrier of harmful bacteria and viruses.

Even though the designer of the new notes admit that the new notes have several advance features, it is not yet clear however if its have been tested compatible to vending machines and ticket dispensers.

Posted in: bangko sentral ng pilipinas,central bank of the philippines