Philippine five hundred-peso note
The Philippine five hundred-peso note is a denomination of Philippine currency. President Corazon Aquino and her husband, Senator Benigno Aquino Jr. are currently featured on the front side of the note, while the Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park and the blue-naped parrot are featured on the reverse side.
The polymer version, first introduced in December 19, 2024 features the Visayan spotted deer on its obverse side while its reverse side has similar design elements with the cotton-abacá version and it will be in circulation starting December 23, 2024, in limited quantities and in the Greater Manila area.
History
Pre-independence
- 1905: Philippine Islands Silver Certificates issued with a portrait of Miguel López de Legazpi.
- 1918: Philippine Treasury Certificates issued with a portrait of Miguel López de Legazpi.
- 1936: Philippine Commonwealth Treasury Certificates issued with a portrait of Miguel López de Legazpi. This series were later overprinted with the word "VICTORY" after the liberation of the Philippines under Japanese rule in 1944.
- 1944: Japanese government issued series. Due to hyperinflation caused by the ongoing World War II, the Japanese were forced to issue higher denominations of their fiat peso. The banknotes ceased to be legal tender after the liberation.
- 1949: Philippine five hundred peso bill VICTORY at Central Bank of the Philippines Banknotes
Independence
English series (1951–1959)
From 1953, the obverse side of the denomination featured the portrait of Manuel A. Roxas, the first president of the independent Republic of the Philippines. The reverse side featured the Old Central Bank main office. Roxas and the Central Bank building were later featured on the one hundred peso note upon the introduction of the Pilipino series notes.In 1959, the 200 and 500 peso notes were withdrawn from circulation on December 31, 1959, pursuant to Philippine Republic Act No. 1516.
[New Design series] (1985–2018)
The five hundred peso denomination was not included in the Pilipino and Ang Bagong Lipunan series.Originally, the ₱500 was scheduled to be reintroduced on late 1985 with New Design Series banknote featuring a portrait of Ferdinand Marcos on the obverse with the Batasang Pambansa Complex depicted on the reverse as the first uncirculated version. The paper color is white instead of mostly yellow, and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas logo is black and pink. The concept design of these bills were commissioned to Romeo Mananquil. Before its initial batch of 2 million printed were distributed, Marcos was ousted in the 1986 People Power Revolution. It had the microprint "Central Bank of the Philippines" along the threads above and below with extending to the denomination at lower left, similar to the one thousand and two hundred peso notes 6 and 17 years later in 1991 and 2002, respectively. The said batch were destroyed in 1986 by administration of President Corazon Aquino resulting from the People Power Revolution, delaying the denomination's release to August 21, 1987. In 2012, a copy of the Marcos ₱500 banknote was discovered in the collection of Wilson Yuloque, which was posted in the blog of Philippine banknote collector Christopher N.C. Gibbs. This would have been the first banknote in the series to feature a sitting president should he not stepped down due to the revolution, before the latter featuring Gloria Macapagal Arroyo along with his immediate predecessor Diosdado Macapagal on a ₱200 banknote. A prototype copy of the banknote is currently displayed at the Museo ng Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.
The second version of the note that was finally circulated to the public from 1987 to January 3, 2018, released at the said date of August 1987, features the portrait of Benigno Aquino Jr., a former senator and an opposition leader when Ferdinand Marcos was president. The note is predominantly yellow in color. The obverse also features two popular quotes from Aquino: "Faith in our people and faith in God", it is the excerpt from the 1983 undelivered speech upon his return from exile in United States, and "The Filipino is worth dying for", it is the excerpt from his speech delivered before the Asia Society in New York City on August 4, 1980, under which is signed his nickname, "Ninoy". There is also the signature of Aquino, a typewriter with his initials, and a dove of peace. The reverse features a collage of various images in relation to Aquino, showing him, inter alia, as a journalist for the Manila Times in front of an article about "1st Cav", a senator, the mayor of his hometown of Concepcion, the governor of Tarlac, and as the main driving force behind the People Power Revolution of 1986, some three years after his death in 1983. Between the serial number and hidden "500" at the lower-left has the microprint "Central Bank of the Philippines". This is the only note where the name is written in script. The banknote was designed by Rafael Asuncion.
After the creation of the "Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas" in 1993, its new logo was incorporated on all the New Design series bills.
Starting with banknotes printed in 1998, the year of printing was added at the bottom of the denomination value located at the upper left corner of the obverse. The names of the signatories on the bills were later added starting with banknotes featuring the signature of President Joseph Estrada. The names of positions of the respective signatories also changed their typeface from Optima to Helvetica and became lowercase.
Starting with banknotes featuring the signature of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on September 20, 2001, additional security features were added, such as the security thread on the right side and the gold fluorescent printing on the left side across the portrait.
New Generation series (2010–present)
From 2010 onwards, the portrait of Benigno Aquino Jr. was redesigned and a portrait of his wife, former president Corazon Aquino, was added. A scene from the EDSA Revolution was added on the lower left of the obverse and the Ninoy Aquino Monument was added in the lower middle. The reverse now features the Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park and the blue-naped parrot.In 2017, an updated version of the New Generation series 500 peso banknote was issued with changes in the font size of the year of issue and the italicization of the scientific name on the reverse side.
In 2020, an enhanced version of the 500 peso banknote was released. It added color-changing indigenous patterns to the security threads. A Rolling bar effect was also added in the 500 located at the upper-left corner. Finally, eight tactile marks were placed for the elderly and the visually impaired, four tactile marks were placed on the extreme left and right side of the front of the note.
The new BSP logo, which was redesigned in January 2021 was adopted in all NGC banknotes starting with the 2022 issued banknotes featuring the signatures of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and BSP Governor Felipe Medalla.