By Hilda Austria/Philippine News Agency
SAN CARLOS CITY, Pangasinan — Some PHP180,000 worth of unfit bills and coins were exchanged by residents of this city and nearby towns during the activity of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Dagupan City branch on May 4.
BSP Dagupan bank officer Malou Manaois, in an interview Monday, said most of the unfit bills and coins they replaced were PHP20 and PHP50 bills, and five to 25 centavos coins, respectively.
“Most people exchanged the five centavos to 25 centavos coins as they said many of the establishments or vendors would no longer accept the said coins, so these end up in the wallets or piggy banks, which accumulated over a period of time. While the PHP20 and PHP50 bills are the commonly used bills hence, these are mostly worn and torn,” she explained.
Manaois noted the benefits of exchanging unfit bills and coins, including savings of the national government and preventing the spread of diseases.
“Our objective in doing this is to expedite collection of unfit currencies. This also prevents spread of fake money as people will be more informed on the features of money, while the circulation of coins will save a lot from the national government in terms of dividends,” she said.
The spread of diseases will also be prevented by stopping the use of unfit currencies, especially bills, she added.
“Dirty bills carry viruses and bacteria. When we stop circulating it, we will prevent diseases,” Manaois said.
BSP-Dagupan will conduct another exchange of unfit notes and coins on May 18 from 5 a.m. to 10 a.m. during the fun run at the Lingayen Capitol Baywalk as part of their Clean Note and Coin Policy campaign.
The registration fee will be unfit notes and coins.
“The public can always go to their nearest banks to have the replacement of their unfit bills and coins. Banks are required to replace unfit bills and coins even if the customer is not their client. If there are banks who would not exchange, the public can report it to BSP,” Manaois said.
She, however, clarified that mutilated or damaged bills are subject to rules of BSP.
“The remaining portion of the bill should be at least 60 percent of the original size of the banknote. A portion of the signatures of the President of the Philippines or the Governor of the BSP remains and there is still the Embedded Security Thread and or Windowed Security Thread unless it was erased due to fire, water chemical or bitten by termites or rodents and the like,” she explained.
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