Banknotes of the Philippine peso


Banknotes of the Philippine peso are issued by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas for circulation in the Philippines. The smallest amount of legal tender in wide circulation is ₱20 and the largest is ₱1000. The front side of each banknote features prominent people along with buildings, and events in the country's history while the reverse side depicts landmarks and animals.

History

On May 1, 1852, the first commercial bank of the Philippines, El Banco Español Filipino de Isabel II issued the following denominations initially 10, 25, 50 and 200 pesos fuertes. They were used until 1896.

First Philippine Republic

The revolutionary republic of Emilio Aguinaldo ordered the issuance of 1, 2, 5, 10, 25, 50, 100-peso banknotes which were signed by Messrs. Pedro A. Paterno, Telesforo Chuidan and Mariano Limjap to avoid counterfeiting. However, only the 1 and 5-peso banknotes have been printed and circulated to some areas by the end of the short-lived First Republic.

American Period

By 1903, the American colonial Insular Government had issued Silver Certificates in denominations of 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100 and 500 pesos, backed by silver coin or U.S. gold at a fixed rate of 2:1. In 1908, the El Banco Español Filipino was allowed to print banknotes in the following denominations with text in Spanish: Cinco, Diez, Veinte, Cincuenta, Cien and Dos Cientos Pesos. In 1912, the bank was renamed Bank of the Philippine Islands and henceforth issued the same banknotes in English.
In 1918, the Silver Certificates were replaced by the Treasury Certificates issued with government-backing of bonds issued by the United States Government in the following denominations: One, Two, Five, Ten, Twenty, Fifty, One Hundred and Five Hundred Pesos. In 1916, the Philippine National Bank was created to administer the state-holding shares and print banknotes without any quota from the Philippine Assembly. They printed banknotes in denominations of 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 pesos. During World War I, the PNB issued emergency notes printed on cardboard paper in the following denominations: 10, 20, 50 centavos and 1 peso. Also overprinted BPI Notes in Five, Ten and Twenty Pesos due to the lack of currency.
The Commonwealth of the Philippines issued Treasury Certificates with the seal of the new government but still circulated the BPI and PNB banknotes.

Japanese government-issued Philippine peso

1942 series

1943-1945 series

Banknotes issued by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas

"VICTORY-CBP" banknotes

The banknotes first issued by today's Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas were the VICTORY-CBP Overprints in 1949, which were merely overprints of older American-era banknotes. The first official banknote series to be printed were the English Series in 1951.

English Series

The English Series were Philippine banknotes that circulated from 1949 to 1969. It was the only banknote series of the Philippine peso to use English.

Pilipino Series

The Pilipino Series banknotes is the name used to refer to Philippine banknotes issued by the Central Bank of the Philippines from 1969 to 1977, during the term of President Ferdinand Marcos. It was succeeded by the Ang Bagong Lipunan Series of banknotes, to which it shared a similar design. The lowest denomination of the series is 1-piso and the highest is 100-piso.
This series represented a radical change from the English series. The bills underwent Filipinization and a design change.

''Ang Bagong Lipunan'' Series

The Ang Bagong Lipunan Series is the name used to refer to Philippine banknotes issued by the Central Bank of the Philippines from 1978 to 1985. It was succeeded by the New Design Series of banknotes. The lowest denomination of the series is 2-piso and the highest is 100-piso.
After the declaration of Proclamation № 1081 by President Ferdinand Marcos on September 23, 1972, the Central Bank was to demonetize the English Series banknotes in 1974, pursuant to Presidential Decree 378. All the unissued Pilipino Series banknotes were sent back to the De La Rue plant in London for overprinting the watermark area with the words "ANG BAGONG LIPUNAN" and oval geometric safety design. The one peso bill was replaced with the two peso bill, which features the same elements of the demonetized Pilipino series one peso bill.
On September 7, 1978, the Security Printing Plant in Quezon City was inaugurated to produce the banknotes.
The banknotes were still legal tender even after the introduction of the New Design Series banknotes, however it is seldom used after the EDSA Revolution. The banknotes were eventually demonetized on February 2, 1996 after clamors that the banknotes can be used to buy votes for the 1992 Presidential Elections.

New Design/BSP Series

By 1983, the committee was deciding on the issuance of new banknotes to replace the Ang Bagong Lipunan Series by issuing seven new banknotes consisting in denominations of 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 500, and 1000-pesos.
On June 12, 1985, the Central Bank issued the New Design Series starting with a new 5-peso banknote with the face of Emilio Aguinaldo. The following months, a new 10-peso banknote with the face of Apolinario Mabini. On March 3, 1986, a new 20-peso banknote appeared. After the 1986 People Power Revolution and the new 1987 Constitution was promulgated, the Central Bank issued a new 50, 100- and for the second time a new 500-peso banknote with the face of Benigno Aquino, Jr.. In 1991, the Central Bank issued for the first time a new 1000-peso banknote, containing the portraits of José Abad Santos, Josefa Llanes Escoda and Vicente Lim.
After the passage of the New Central Bank Act of 1993, the New Design Series, which was initiated in 1985, was slightly changed because of the new seal of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas. In 1998, the 100,000-peso Centennial banknote, measuring 8.5"x14", accredited by the Guinness Book of World Records as the world's largest legal tender note. It was issued in very limited quantity during the celebration of the Centennial of Philippine Independence. In 2001, the Bangko Sentral issued upgraded 1000, 500, and 100-peso banknotes with new hi-tech security features to combat counterfeiting. During the Estrada Administration, the practice in use since the Commonwealth, of reproducing the signature of the President of the Philippines over the legend "President of the Philippines" was abandoned in favor of explicitly stating the president's name. In 2002, the Bangko Sentral issued a new 200-peso banknote with the security features found on the upgraded 1000, 500, and 100-peso banknotes and has the face of former President Diosdado Macapagal. His daughter, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, is at the back of the 200-peso banknote which showed her being sworn into office at the EDSA Shrine. She is the first president whose image has been included in a banknote while in office since emergency currency was issued by various provincial currency boards during World War II.
The series was renamed the BSP Series in 1993 when the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas was reestablished as the central monetary authority.
The New Design Series had less security features.
On July 8, 2009, the BSP announced that it would recall all bank notes made of abaca cotton soon and replace it with an all-polymer series. However, this is still in the planning stage, with no specific date set for printing and replacements.
The BSP Series added more security features such as another glossy security thread, iridescent strip, fluorescent printing, optically variable ink, and microprints.
These banknotes were legal tender alongside the New Generation Currency series until the end of 2015, when the New Generation Currency series became a single circulating set. The New Design/BSP series ceased to be legal tender on June 30, 2017 and were phased out on December 29, 2017.

New Generation Currency Series (current)

In 2009, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas announced that it will launch a massive redesign for its banknotes and coins to further enhance security features and to improve durability. The members of the numismatic committee included Bangko Sentral Deputy Governor Diwa Guinigundo and Dr. Ambeth Ocampo, chairman of the National Historical Institute. Designed by Studio 5 Designs and Design Systemat, the new banknotes' designs features famous Filipinos and iconic natural wonders. Philippine national symbols will be depicted on coins. The BSP started releasing the initial batch of new banknotes in December 2010. The word used in the bills was "Pilipino" rendered in Baybayin.
On December 16, 2010, the new design for Philippine banknotes were released. The font used for lettering in the banknotes is Myriad, while the numerals are set in the Twentieth Century font. On December 16, 2016, BSP announced that they will launch sets of banknotes bearing President Duterte's signature. The BSP initially released five million pieces of the new 20, 50, 100, 500, and 1,000-peso bills with Duterte's signature. As for the 200-pesos bills, only two million pieces were released because of lower demand for this denomination.
The New Generation Currency series will be the only circulating set of notes by December 30, 2017.
In 2017, the BSP updated the design of the NGC series banknotes with the following changes:
In 2019, the BSP once again changed the signature to the newly appointed governor Benjamin Diokno, following the death of Nestor Espenilla Jr.
In 2020, the Enhanced NGC series all banknotes except for the ₱20 were updated with the following changes:
Several errors have been discovered on banknotes of the New Generation series and have become the subject of ridicule on social networking sites. Among these are the exclusion of Batanes from the Philippine map on the reverse of all denominations, the mislocation of the Puerto Princesa Subterranean Underground River on the reverse of the 500-peso bill and the Tubbataha Reef on the 1000-peso bill, and the incorrect coloring on the beak and feathers of the blue-naped parrot on the 500-peso bill. The scientific names of the animals featured on the reverse sides of all banknotes were incorrectly rendered as well.
According to Design Systemat, the designers of the new bills, that drafts prepared by the company of the new 500-peso bill shows a red beak of the blue-naped parrot. This color was changed by the printers to account for practical printing concerns. The designers further explains that printing banknotes is not like printing brochures. Due to the intaglio printing and limited printing capability of banknote printers, it can only produce a limited full color reproduction.
The alleged mislocation of the Tubbataha Reef on the one thousand peso note was due to a security feature, a smaller version of the featured species on the bills' reverse was located on top of the exact location of the Tubbataha Reef on the map. Giving the option of either moving the key security feature on the standard position or locating the Tubbataha marker correctly, the bills' French printers, Oberthur Technologies, decided to move the reef marker slightly south on the Philippine map.

Higher denominations

The Central Bank of the Philippines issued only 300,000 pieces of this 216 mm x 133 mm 2,000 Philippine peso centennial commemorative legal tender banknote. Another version, with the same design but measured at 160 x 66 mm, was also planned to be issued as legal tender in 2001, but due to the ouster of President Joseph Estrada as the result of the Second EDSA revolution, the notes were stored in the vaults of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas. As of 2010, the bank was considering destroying the bulk of the unissued notes, saving only 50,000 of the five million pieces to be demonetized for "historical, educational, numismatic, or other purposes". However it was not until 2012 that the bank began selling this numismatic product in a folder that clearly stipulates that the notes are not legal tender.
The obverse side features President Joseph Estrada taking his oath of office on June 30, 1998 in the historic Barasoain Church, the seat of the first democratic republic in Asia shown in the background as well as the scroll of the Malolos Constitution and the seal of the BSP.
The reverse side depicts the re-enactment of the declaration of Philippine Independence at the Aguinaldo Shrine in Kawit, Cavite on June 12, 1898 by President Fidel V. Ramos and also features the Philippine Centennial Commission logo.
The security features of the note include a 3-dimensional cylinder mold-made portrait watermark of the two presidents and the years 1898–1998, iridescent band, color-shift windowed security thread, latent image and perfect see-through register.
The 100,000-peso centennial note, measuring 356 x 216 mm, is accredited by the Guinness Book of World Records as the world's largest legal tender note in terms of size. 1,000 pieces were issued during the celebration of the centennial of Philippine independence in 1998.