MANILA, Philippines (Eagle News) — Starting next week, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) will start releasing new peso bills bearing President Rodrigo Duterte’s signature.
In a statement, BSP Governor Amando M. Tetangco Jr., said that the notes are already prepared for circulation. The releasing of the first batch of peso bills will be expected next week upon the completion and approval of the release procedures with the banks.
“As such, bills with the President’s signature would also be made available to the public next week,” he added.
BSP will only print bills with the President Duterte’s signature once the circulation of money has been made in the public.
Meanwhile, they also reminded Filipino citizens who are still holding old banks notes under the New Design Series (NDS) to trade it for the New Generation Currency (NGC) notes in BSP offices as well as authorized agent banks until Dec. 31, 2016.
NDS banknotes launched in 1985 will be demonetized and will not be accepted for NGC trade anymore starting on the first day of January 2017, as they no longer have monetary values in the Philippines.
BSP will be strict in the implementation of trade deadlines, except for special cases such as old bank notes used as evidence in court or in court’s custody, and the old money from the Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW).
Filipinos who are living and working overseas are encouraged to register online up to 50,000 Php old bank notes through the BSP website until December 31, so they can trade the money within a year from the registration date.
Old bank notes from the court’s custody can be exchanged until January 31, 2017. While the money used as evidence in the court can be traded within six months after the termination of the corresponding legal cases.
As of September 2016, P26.1 billion worth of old bank notes are still in circulation.
