BSP Notes won top prize despite controverisies

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas will introduce into circulation a hundred million new generation currency (NGC) banknotes in time for the Christmas holiday season when crisp peso bills are all the rage, especially with children who get money as their aguinaldo.

These peso bills will be added to the almost 300 million currency notes already in circulation.

The NGC banknotes recently won a finalist award for Best New Banknote Series in a conference in Singapore, despite being criticized for some errors and controversies.

Earlier this year, these notes became the subject of political and religious discussions due to the fact that some of the details were either not correct or insufficient.

Moreover, the new notes carry the slogan "PINAGPALA ANG BAYAN NA ANG DIYOS AY ANG PANGINOON" which has outraged some religious sects.

Best New Currency Feature?

The NGC version of the 500-peso and 1000-peso bills have an additional feature known as an optical variable device (OVD) patch and had won in the category of “Best New Currency Feature" — comparable to the dollar and Euro bills.

The OVD patch is a reflective foil that bears the image of BSP Logo with a parrot on the 500-peso bill and the South Sea Pearl inside a clam in the 1000-peso bill, which changes colors when the notes are rotated 90 degrees.

“The judges must have been impressed because of the beautiful combination between the security features and the design itself, and the play of colors," said BSP Vice Governor Diwa Guinigundo in an interview with Saleema Refran on GMA News TV's SONA.

The new bills were printed in France and are composed of 20 percent abaca fibers. But by the end of next year, the BSP expects to be able to print NGC banknotes here in the Philippines.

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