DESPITE several requests from several old peso note holders who failed to exchange these bills, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas reiterated its stand to no longer exchange these old bills for new ones after the deadline last June 30.
Lawyer Leonides Sumbi, BSP Cebu regional office director, said that they have received inquiries even until this month regarding the directive.
“It is very sad to note that even one month after the deadline, there are still many who come here asking if they can have their bills exchanged,” Sumbi told reporters in a mix of English and Cebuano during the BSP’s 24th anniversary celebration in Cebu City on Tuesday.
Old peso bills belonging to the New Design Series (NDS) lost their value in July as the BSP decided to no longer replace them beyond the June 30 deadline.
As such, starting July 1, only the New Generation Currency (NGC) banknotes , launched in 2010, can be used for daily transactions.
In March, the Monetary Board, the BSP’s highest policymaking body, moved by another three months the deadline to exchange or replace NDS banknotes with NGC banknotes.
Last December, the BSP moved the deadline to March 31, but officials said in March that there was public clamor to again extend the deadline.
Originally, the BSP scheduled demonetization of the NDS banknotes on Jan. 1 this year. Once demonetized, the NDS banknotes launched in 1985 will no longer be exchanged with the BSP and banks.