TAGBILARAN CITY, Bohol, July 30, (PIA) -- You hand to the bank cashier a wad of P1,000.00 bills and she picks out two pieces which are fakes, what do you do?
Well, practically nothing.
The banks are mandated to stop the circulation of counterfeits, and if you insist, you could be hailed in court, as article 168 of the Revised Penal Code says that mere possession of a fake banknote is illegal and punishable.
According to the authorities at the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, spotting the fakes in the first place is ones first protection against losing hard-earned money.
To facilitate all of this, the BSP opened a briefing in Bohol, on the New Generation Currency (NGC) which, they said packs at least seven security features including one that puts in embossed braille dots to allow the blind to pick the note’s value.
The NGC, which comes in denominations of P20, P50, P100, P200, P500 and P1,000 has enhanced the security features carried on by the older banknotes; to help the public detect the fakes from the real McCoy.
BSP Regional Director Ma. Lux Berciles, in her opening remarks said the NGC is a move by the government to better “protect its people from counterfeiters by incorporating the latest features in banknotes security features.”
Incorporating the latest banknote security features makes it hard for counterfeiters to copy and makes it easy for people to check on the design as counterfeit, she said.
During the briefing attended by cash handlers and stakeholders in the business and financial sector Friday, BSP said the NGC packs at least seven security features in its smaller denomination notes and as much as 9 features in its P1,000 note.
The coming of the NGC however does not mean the decommissioning of the older note, which was then known as the New Design Series, BSP Cash department’s Ludwig Heinz S. Georfo said.
Georfo, who is a senior currency specialist said the new design series which would eventually be replaced by the NGC would still run for three to four more years.
Handling the briefing proper, Georfo said the NGC uses features than can be checked using one’s senses of sight and touch.
According to the currency specialist, the real NGC banknote uses embossed prints which one can feel when touching the Republika ng Pilipinas and the monetary value of the note.
Also, the serial number, unlike the older series uses two prefix letters and 6 or 7 asymmetric digits.
Like the older generation notes, the NGC also sport the usual security fibers visible through red and blue threads embedded in the paper and glows when viewed under ultraviolet light.
Moreover, the watermark, which is a common international security mark has now an added feature: the value of the note.
The NGC also sports a see-through mark: the word Filipino written in old baybayin text can be completely seen when the note is viewed against the light.
A new security feature, the concealed value of the note can also be seen superimposed on the portrait at the upper-left side of the note and this can be seen when the note is viewed while rotated 45 degrees and tilted down.
Finally, the old security thread embedded on the note can be seen vertically across and is visible on either side of the note.
Bigger denominations; P500 and P1000 carry even more security features: an optically variable device which allows the Blue napped Parrot to chance colors when the note is rotated.
While this is also true with the South Sea Pearl image of the P1,000, another security feature is the optically variable ink that changes the color of the monetary value of P1,000 from green to blue when viewed at different angles.
And BSP warns, do not tear the sides of the banknote to test it as real, Georfo said tearing the side or intentional mutilation of money and banknotes (writing, putting up marks, staples is punishable by PD 247. (Rey Anthony Chiu)
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