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 denomination of banknote currently in circulation is ₱20 and the largest is ₱1000. The front side of each banknote features prominent people along with buildings and events from the country's history, while the reverse side depicts landmarks and animals.
The dimensions of banknotes issued since the US-Philippine administration,, have remained the same on all subsequent Philippine peso banknotes, and were introduced during William Howard Taft's tenure as governor-general of the Philippines. In view of their highly successful run, President Taft then appointed a committee that reported favorably on the advantages and savings from changing the size of United States banknotes to Philippine-size.
Since 1928, the sizes of the United States Federal Reserve Notes and Philippine banknotes have therefore been nearly identical.

History

Timeline of the Philippine banknote series

On May 1, 1852, the first commercial bank of the Philippines, El Banco Español Filipino de Isabel II, initially issued the following denominations: 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, 20, 50 and 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 2, 5 and 10 pesos, backed by silver pesos or U.S. dollars at a fixed rate of ₱2/$1. The authorization of the issuance of Philippine Silver Certificates were placed on the notes, "By Authority of an Act of the Congress of the United States of America, approved March 2, 1903." The first shipment of the currency was sent to the Philippines on September 1, 1903, and issued in October of the same year.
In 1905, higher denominations of 20, 50, 100 and 500 pesos were printed. However, amendments were made before the shipment of the notes from the United States to the Philippines to allow gold to be included as a reserve for the Silver Certificates. As the Series of 1905 was printed, but not yet shipped, they were sent to the United States Government Printing Office, and overprinted vertically with, "Subject to the provisions of the Act of Congress, approved June 23, 1906."
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 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100 and 500 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 were BPI notes in 5, 10 and 20 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 conceptualized and issued by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas

Summary of the Philippine banknote series

"VICTORY-CBP" banknotes

The banknotes first issued by the 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 (1949–1971)

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 (1969–1974)

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 Sr. This series represented a radical change from the [|English series] by undergoing Filipinization and a design change. 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.

''Ang Bagong Lipunan'' Series (1973–1996)

The Ang Bagong Lipunan Series is the name used to refer to Philippine banknotes issued by the Central Bank of the Philippines from 1973 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 Sr. on September 23, 1972, the Central Bank was to demonetize the English Series banknotes in 1974, pursuant to Presidential Decree No. 168, later amended by 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 they were seldom used after the People Power Revolution. The banknotes were eventually demonetized on February 2, 1993 after clamors that the banknotes could be used to buy votes for the 1992 Presidential Elections.

New Design/BSP Series (1983–2019, printed from 1985 to 2013)

By 1983, the committee had decided 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 5-peso banknote with the face of Emilio Aguinaldo. A new 10-peso banknote with the face of Apolinario Mabini was then introduced in July 1985, a month after the 5-peso banknote was issued. On January 1986, a new 20-peso banknote was introduced.
Before the final 500-peso banknote with the face of Benigno Aquino Jr., the original proposed version was planned to feature Ferdinand Marcos. However, the 1986 People Power Revolution caused the latter to be unreleased and also delayed the denomination's release to 1987.
After the 1986 People Power Revolution and the promulgation of the new 1987 Constitution, the Central Bank issued new 50, 100, and for the second time using the final that replaced the Marcos version, 500-peso banknotes with the face of Aquino Jr. In 1991, the Central Bank released 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 when the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas was reestablished as the central monetary authority, the series was renamed the BSP Series and featured the new seal of the BSP.
On May 2, 1997, the year of issue or printing was introduced on banknotes starting with the release of the 10-peso note with Andres Bonifacio and the Blood Compact of the Katipuneros. This feature was later adapted on other banknotes of the series which are 20, 50, 100, 500, and 1,000 peso notes starting with those printed in 1998 therefore the said denominations without a year mark were produced from 1986 to 1997. The only banknote of the series that does not use the printing or issue year is the 5-peso note as it stopped being printed in 1995 two years before the printing year was introduced or added on banknotes.
In 1998, the 100,000-peso Centennial banknote, measuring 8.5"x14", was 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 the same year, the practice in banknotes since the Commonwealth era 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. Also, the names of the Philippine president and BSP governor were capitalized, while their titles were now in lowercase.
In 2001, the BSP upgraded the security features of the 100, 500, and 1000-peso banknotes with additional security features like a second glossy security thread, iridescent strip, fluorescent printing, optically variable ink, and microprints. In 2002, the Bangko Sentral issued a new 200-peso banknote with the same aforementioned security features and with the face of former President Diosdado Macapagal. His daughter, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, was 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.
On July 8, 2009, the BSP announced that it would recall all bank notes made of abaca and cotton and replace it with an all-polymer series. This plan was delayed for 12 years until 2021, however, when the New Generation Currency series began printing on November 2010, with all banknotes still made of abaca and cotton.
The series had the liability of the BSP alongside the New Generation Currency series until the demonetization of the 2,000 and 100,000-piso commemorative banknotes on August 2, 2019, when the New Generation Currency series became a single circulating set, making the New Design Series the banknote series to have the longest liability of the BSP, with main banknotes demonetized on January 3, 2018, and the said commemorative banknotes and series overall in August 2019.
Signature pairs of the President of the Philippines and Governor of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas appearing on the banknotes:
  • 1983–1984: Ferdinand Marcos Sr., Jaime C. Laya
  • 1984–1986: Ferdinand Marcos Sr., Jose B. Fernandez Jr. ; release: 5 and 10, and 20 )
  • 1986–1990: Corazon Aquino, Jose B. Fernandez Jr., and 50, 100 and 500 )
  • 1990–1992: Corazon Aquino, Jose L. Cuisia Jr., and 1,000 )
  • 1992–1993: Fidel V. Ramos, Jose L. Cuisia Jr.
  • 1993–1998: Fidel V. Ramos, Gabriel Singson, 10, 20, 50, 100, 500 and 1,000, and 100,000 )
  • 1998–1999: Joseph Estrada, Gabriel Singson, and 10, 20, 50, 100, 500 and 1,000 )
  • 1999–2001: Joseph Estrada, Rafael Buenaventura, 10, 20, 50, 100 and 500, and 2,000 )
  • 2001–2005: Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, Rafael Buenaventura, 50, 100, and 1,000, 200, and 20 and 500 )
  • 2005–2010: Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, Amando Tetangco Jr.
  • 2010–2013: Benigno Aquino III, Amando Tetangco Jr., and 50, 100, 200, and 500 )