New Design series

The New Design Series was the name used to refer to Philippine banknotes issued from 1985 to 1993; it was then renamed into the BSP series due to the re-establishment of Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas from 1993 to 2010. It was succeeded by the New Generation banknotes issued on December 16, 2010. Existing banknotes will remain legal tender for at least three years.

5 peso

The 5-Peso note was issued by the Central Bank on June 12, 1985. The front side of the 5-peso banknote features the portrait of Emilio Aguinaldo. The back of the banknote features the Philippine declaration of independence by Emilio Aguinaldo on June 12, 1898.

The banknote is predominantly colored green.

Security features of the banknote include a security thread, scattered red & blue visible fibers, and fluorescent printing.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas has stopped printing this banknote, and it is currently being replaced by equivalent coins. However, existing banknotes remain legal tender.

10 Peso

The 10-Peso banknote was issued months after the 5-Peso banknote was issued. The front side of the 10-peso banknote features Apolinario Mabini on the left and Andres Bonifacio on the right.

Bonifacio was the founder of the Katipunan (KKK), a secret society established to fight the Spanish colonial government. Mabini was the Philippines first Prime Minister and Secretary of Foreign Affairs even though he was a cripple. Because of this, he was often called "The Sublime Paralytic". Depicted on the right side is one of the flags of the Katipunan (see Flags of the Philippine Revolution), the Kartilya ng Katipunan, and a letter written by Mabini.

The reverse side of the banknote features the Barasoain Church in Malolos, Bulacan, site of the first Philippine Congress and where the Malolos Constitution was drafted. The right portion depicts the initiation rites of the Katipunan. Members accepted into the society had to sign their name on the society's roster using their own blood. The design was previously used on the 5 Peso "Pilipino" and "Ang Bagong Lipunan" notes.

The banknote is predominantly colored brown.

Before 1997, the 10-Peso banknote only depicted Mabini and the Barasoain Church. In recent years, the new banknote has been replaced with a bi-metallic 10-Peso coin also bearing the effigies of Bonifacio and Mabini.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas has stopped printing this banknote. However, existing banknotes of both versions remain legal tender.

20 Peso

The front side of the 20-Peso banknote features Manuel L. Quezon, first president of the Commonwealth of the Philippines. Along the right side of the banknote are the coat-of-arms of the Commonwealth, and two of Quezon's notable accomplishments. The first is "Wikang Pambansâ", which is Tagalog for "national language". In 1937, the National Language Institute was founded to establish a single national language for the Philippines. This eventually became the Filipino language, which is largely based on Tagalog. The second was the "Saligang Batas 1935" or the 1935 Constitution of the Philippines. This was the first real constitution that was nationally effected and large parts of it survive in the current constitution.

The banknote is predominantly colored orange.

The reverse side of the 20-Peso banknote depicts Malacañan Palace, more popularly known as Malacañang Palace, the residence of the President of the Philippines, along the banks of the Pasig River. Quezon was the first Philippine president to live in the Palace.

50 Peso

Depicted on the front side of the fifty-Peso is Sergio Osmeña, the second president of the Commonwealth of the Philippines. He served as president from 1944, after Quezon's death, to 1946, when the United States granted the Philippines' independence.

The banknote is predominantly colored red.

The National Museum is featured on the reverse side of the banknote. This building used to be the Legislative Building, where the House of Representatives that Osmena presided over as Speaker from 1907-1922 was located. The building and then renamed Executive House during the Martial Law period and was labeled as such in the fifty-Peso banknote until recently.

100 Peso

The front side of the 100-Peso banknote features Manuel Roxas, the first president of the independent Philippine Republic. This independence is shown at the right side where the Philippine flag was raised while that of the United States was lowered on July 4, 1946.

The banknote is predominantly colored violet.

The reverse side of the banknote depicts the Manila compound of the Bangko Sentral.

The 100-Peso banknote is the smallest-valued banknote to have the new security features implemented in recent years. But before the advent of the new security features, the 100-Peso banknote is interesting for having other security features. On the front side is a barely visible "100" logo above the signatures of the president and the Central Bank governor. This logo is best seen on crisp new 100-Peso banknotes. On the reverse side, the top row of windows of the main building has the words "Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas" ("Central Bank of the Philippines") running the whole length.

The 100-Peso banknote became the subject of controversy after banknotes printed in France in time for the Christmas season were printed with the President's name misspelled, the first in Philippine history. The banknotes, of which a small amount are still in circulation and are still legal tender, spelled the President's name as "Gloria Macapagal-Arrovo" versus the correct Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. The incident was subsequently the subject of public humor as soon as the issue made national headlines. The BSP probed the mistake and corrected the error afterwards.

200 Peso

The front side of the 200-Peso banknote features the portrait of Diosdado Macapagal. It also features the Aguinaldo Shrine in Kawit, Cavite.

The back side of the banknote features a scene from EDSA II, with Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, Macapagal's daughter, being sworn in as president by Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr. in January 2001. The little girl holding a Bible in between Arroyo and Davide is Cecilia Paz Razon Abad, daughter of Philippine Budget and Management Secretary Florencio Abad and Batanes Representative Henedina Razon-Abad. [1]

The banknote is predominantly colored green. This note is also a commemorative banknote, released in 2002 to commemorate Philippine independence.

The banknote was the subject of criticism by the opposition. They said that the legal tender should only feature deceased national heroes and not an incumbent President. Although, it wasn't the first time that a legal tender featured a sitting President. Legal tender coinage was minted to commemorate the inauguration of Manuel L. Quezon as President of the Philippines in 1935. Emergency currency during World War II had many instances where provincial emergency currency boards placed the image of then President Manuel L. Quezon. In 1975, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas released a 5-Peso coin featuring the face of then President Ferdinand Marcos. Former Presidents Fidel Ramos and Joseph Estrada was also pictured in a limited commemorative 2000-Peso banknote that honors the 100-year celebration of Philippine Independence. Also a limited commemorative gold 1000-Peso banknote with the picture of former President Joseph Estrada was also issued to honor the 100-year celebration of Philippine Independence. Also, every banknote series since 1935 has borne the facsimile signature of the incumbent President of the Philippines.

Some critics including Fr. Robert Reyes also pointed out that featuring Gloria Arroyo in the 200-Peso note could be an electioneering tactic ahead of the 2004 Philippine elections.^[1]

500 Peso

The front side of the 500-Peso banknote features the portrait of Benigno Aquino, Jr.. To the right of the banknote, there are two popular quotes from Aquino: "Faith in our people and faith in God", and "The Filipino is worth dying for", under which is signed his nickname, "Ninoy". There is also the signature of Aquino, a typewriter with his initials ("B.S.A.J."), and a dove of peace. A Philippine flag is also to the right of his portrait, near the central part of the front side.

The reverse side features a collage of various images in relation to Aquino. He was (out of some of the pictures) a journalist for the Manila Times, a senator (the pioneer of the Study Now, Pay Later education program), the mayor in his hometown of Concepcion, the governor of Tarlac, and was the main driving force behind the People Power Revolution of 1986, some three years after his death in 1983.

The banknote is predominantly colored yellow.

It is also interesting to note that unlike the names of the figures on the bills, "Benigno S. Aquino, Jr." is written in gold-colored, cursive writing with a green laurel wreath as opposed to the name being simply written as with the other banknotes.

Before this note was printed, the 500-Peso banknote was to feature Ferdinand Marcos and its reverse was to be the Batasang Pambansa Complex. The People Power Revolution caused it to be replaced by the current 500-Peso banknote. Remnants of this version of the banknote are only for media purposes.

On August 16, 2009, a proposal was made by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas to have President Cory Aquino accompany her husband, Ninoy Aquino on the banknote.

1,000 Peso

The front side of the 1,000-Peso banknote features the portraits of Jose Abad Santos, Chief Justice; Josefa Llanes Escoda, civic worker and one of the founders of the Girl Scouts of the Philippines; and Vicente Lim, a general in the Philippine Army, first Filipino graduate of West Point: the three are considered heroes of the resistance against the Japanese occupation of the Philippines. It also features the eternal flame, laurel leaves, and bank seal.

The back of the banknote features the Banaue Rice Terraces, Manunggul Jar cover and Langgal.

The banknote is predominantly colored blue.

Security features of the banknote include optically variable ink, a security thread, scattered red & blue visible fibers, and fluorescent printing. The words "Central Bank of the Philippines" are microprinted in the lower left border on the face of the note.

References

1. ^ http://www.newsflash.org/2002/04/be/be002037.htm