Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Benjamin Diokno. INQUIRER file photo / EARVIN PERIAS
MANILA, Philippines — Removing heroes from the new design of the P1,000 bill is “not an attempt to revise history,” Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Benjamin Diokno said on Tuesday.
The new P1,000 bill design shows an endangered Philippine eagle, replacing World War II Filipino heroes Chief Justice Jose Abad Santos, Brigadier General Vicente Lim, and Girl Scouts of the Philippines founder Josefa Llanes Escoda, who were killed during the Japanese occupation in the Philippines.
“Hindi naman natin kinakalimutan ang mga bayani. Ang mga bayani magiging bayani ‘yan kahit nasa pera ‘yan o hindi,” Diokno noted on Teleradyo’s Kabayan, noting the the eagle “symbolizes the whole country.”
(We are not forgetting our heroes. Heroes will be heroes despite their portraits on bills.)
“It was not an attempt to revise history. Hindi mo naman mapapalitan ang kasaysayan ng isang bansa (You cannot replace a country’s history),” he continued.
Diokno said that redesigning the bill is a practice of the agency and they decided to change it to fauna and flora because that is the trend in other countries.
Paper to polymer
The governor likewise, explained why the BSP shifted from the use of paper to polymer in making bills, citing that it is safer amid the COVID-19 pandemic and more cost-effective.
Diokno recalled that he was asked if the paper bills could be sprayed with alcohol to disinfect it. He said that it is not recommended because the bill would have a smudge.
When quizzed if the bill made from polymer could be sprayed with alcohol, he affirmed.
Diokno also said that using polymers in making bills is more cost-effective.
“It’s also more cost-effective kasi ang buhay ng polymer ay (because a polymer’s lifespan is) 0.5 times to five times longer than the paper at saka (and) it’s environmentally-friendly,” he explained.
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