Several months ago, Senator Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel urged the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas to explain why the 1000 and 100 peso bills looked so much alike.
The senator said that he received a lot of complaints from the public regarding the similarity of the said banknotes also known as the New Generation Currency (NGC). He added that the BSP should explain about the similarity and tell the public if they have plans to improve the situation.
Effective today, the Bangko Central ng Pilipinas will be starting the issuance of the new 100 peso banknotes with a stronger violet color.
Bottom: New 100-peso banknote with stronger mauve.
According to the BSP this move was due to the suggestions from the public so that it would be easier to identify or distinguish the 100 peso bill from the 1000 peso banknote.
The BSP also said that the new 100 peso bill will have “stronger mauve or violet color on the obverse and reverse sides.” Except for the color, all features remain the same.
However, BSP reassured the public that the current 100 peso bill with lighter color can still be used, hence, businesses must continue accepting the current 100 peso banknotes. They can still be used for daily transactions for payment of goods and services according to the BSP and “they will commingle with the new ones with stronger mauve or violet color.”
All old banknotes will have no monetary value effective 2017. The BSP advised the public that they can still exchange their old bills through agent-banks or the BSP’s cash department and other regional branches and offices until the end of this year. The old bills or the New Design Series were no longer used in daily transactions since December last year.
Sources: Business Inquirer, Manila Times, Manila Bulletin
