House urged to probe removal of heroes’ portraits from P1,000 bill

Lawmakers from the Bayan Muna party-list on Tuesday filed a resolution calling for a probe by the House of Representatives into the central bank's decision to remove the portraits of three World War II heroes from the P1,000 bill.

Bayan Muna Representatives Carlos Isagani Zarate, Ferdinand Gaite, and Eufemia Cullamat filed House Resolution 2412 asking the House committee on banks and financial intermediaries to investigate “the removal of Philippine national heroes from the design of the new Philippines banknotes by replacing them with photos of flora and fauna, and, to express the sense of the House of Representatives strongly opposing of the said removal.”

BSP Governor Benjamin Diokno last week released the new design of the P1,000 bill designed by the central bank and approved by the National Historical Institute.

The new design of the P1,000 banknote, which will be for the limited polymer bills to be released beginning in late April 2022, features the Philippine eagle in front, replacing heroes Vicente Lim, Josefa Llanes Escoda, and Jose Abad Santos.

In their resolution, the Bayan Muna solons argued that featuring the country’s flora and fauna on Philippine banknotes "should not be at the expense of removing totally our heroes who stood and fought for our rights and freedoms."

“Amid the aggressive attempt of some unscrupulous groups and individuals to revise Philippine history, the removal of important historical figures from the new banknotes, in effect, can also denigrate, even undermine, their historical contributions in the defense of our freedom and fight against foreign aggression,” they said.

Diokno has clarified that the P1,000 bill featuring heroes will continue to be in circulation even after the release of the P1,000 polymer banknote.

“Heroes will remain heroes whether they are in the notes or not. The 1,000-piso paper banknote featuring Jose Abad Santos, Vicente Lim, Josefa Llanes Escoda, will remain in circulation alongside the new 1,000-piso polymer banknotes,” he told reporters in Manila on Monday evening.

“We will not demonetize the existing 1,000-piso paper banknote. Under my watch, there will be no demonetization of any denomination. The BSP will continue to print the existing 1,000-piso paper banknotes featuring the three heroes even as we circulate the 1,000-piso polymer banknotes,” he added.

Over the weekend, the new design of the P1,000 polymer banknote drew mixed reviews, with some urging the central bank to reconsider.

The BSP earlier said it will test the polymer banknotes with an initial few hundred million pieces, which will have a similar material to those used in countries such as Australia, Canada, Mexico, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. — VBL, GMA News