The P1,000 bill has a new look. In place of the World War II heroes Jose Abad Santos, Josefa Llanes Escoda, and Vicente Lim is the Philippine eagle. Plus, they are now polymer-based to make them more durable.
But still, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) insists you refrain from folding your P1,000 banknotes. Earlier this month, the central bank issued guidelines on handling the new bill. These include keeping them flat and avoiding excessively folding, creasing, or crumpling the polymer paper bills as these could leave permanent fold marks. The worst-case scenario, according to incoming BSP Governor Felipe Medalla, is that mishandling could lead to the bill breaking over time.
His suggestion? To get longer wallets. “One thing to adjust is to have wallets or purses that prevent it from being totally folded.” He added that wallets should be as long as the bill to prevent it from folding.
Or better yet, have women handle the P1,000 bills. “Mas madali ’yan sa babae kasi may handbag kayo (It’s easier for women because they have handbags),” Medalla said. This remark, which some netizens found to be a tad sexist, prompted the TV-radio hosts to joke that it is best for men to give their money to their wives then. Reinforcing yet another sexist stereotype: It seems women can’t have bi-fold wallets or their own hard-earned money either?
Was Medalla joking? Former Supreme Court spokesperson and human rights lawyer Ted Te thinks so. “Never thought Dr. Medalla could be so funny. Because the only way that this statement makes sense is that it is a joke, right?” he said in a tweet.
But seriously though, if this new version of the banknote is more durable, why does it seem like it is more high-maintenance? How precious a P1,000 bill is these days, even if its purchasing power has since dwindled.
Among the other handling guidelines is not to hoard them as some people have been doing, treating the new bills as novelty items to be collected—and some have indeed resorted to selling them. Though the new bills have been circulated as early as April this year, the old version is also still in circulation.
Last year, descendants of the World War II heroes previously featured on the bill questioned the redesign, saying it amounts to historical erasure.
In an interview last year, outgoing BSP Governor Benjamin Diokno said the decision was based on a study on monetary trends, noting that other countries’ banknotes feature flora and fauna. “’Yung eagle symbolizes the whole country—isang ibon na endangered. Palagay ko makakaunite sa atin ito—young and old, male and female (The endangered eagle symbolizes the whole country. In my opinion, this will unite all of us, young and old, male and female),” Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Benjamin Diokno said.
He also maintained that it was not an attempt to revise history. “Hindi mo naman mapapalitan ang kasaysayan ng isang bansa (You can’t change the history of a country),” he said.
“Ang mga bayani, bayani ’yan kahit nasa pera o wala (Heroes are still heroes regardless if they’re on a banknote or not).”