A newer version of the P100 bill is now circulated in Cebu. (Contributed)
When Teresa Radaza went out to buy calamansi (lemonsito) from a local vendor last Thursday, she didn’t expect to be accused of using a fake bill.
She had with her a new P100 bill, given to her by one of the employees at Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).
“Nakatawa nalang ko kay abi niya nga fake akong 100. Dili man to fake (I just laughed because he thought my P100 bill was fake. It wasn’t),” she told Cebu Daily News.
“Nilahi na man ang color sa bill. Mao to abi niya’g di tinuod (The color of the bill has been changed. That’s why he thought it was fake),” she added.
The new 100-Piso banknote has a stronger mauve or violet color and is tinted purple and pink, instead of the familiar purple and blue.
The BSP regional office released last week 1.85 million pieces of newly minted purple and pink 100-Piso banknotes to the 21 banks operating in Cebu City.
This was in response to compliants that the old P100 bill looked similar to and was often confused with the P1000 bill under the New Generation Currency series, said BSP-Cebu director Leonides Sumbi.
“We received many complaints about this, so BSP decided to just change the color of the 100-Piso banknote,” she said.
In changing the color, the blue tint by the security thread was completely removed, leaving the new bill mostly purple.
Rest assured, only the color of the bill was changed, Sumbi said. The security features found in the bills remain the same.
According to the director, the decision to change the color was made towards the end of 2015.
BSP Central then promised that the newly minted notes would be out in the provinces by the first quarter of 2016.
However, despite efforts from the agency to inform the public, it seems that many are still not aware of the change.
“We’ve also heard some people here and there who are confused,” said Hazel Arante, regional bank officer 1.
But Sumbi said it may be too soon to tell, as the new notes started circulating only a few days ago.
“That’s why we need the public to know, so that they won’t be accused of having fake P100 bills with them,” the director said.
The old purple-and-blue bills are still legal tender and can be used in transactions.
The new and old P100 bills will continue circulating together in the meantime, as BSP still has a buffer stock of the old bills.
“Daghan pa mi sa old P100 bill. Patikim pa ni (we still have plenty of the old P100 bills. This is just a sample). All regional offices were sent only a set of bundles of the new one just so we can start circulating them as well,” Sumbi said.
Another batch is expected to arrive by the end of February or early in March. The New Generation Currency banknotes have replaced the New Design Series, which will no longer have monetary value by next year.