Noy hits critics of new bank notes

By Aurea Calica (The Philippine Star) Updated December 21, 2010 

MANILA, Philippines - President Aquino lashed back yesterday at the critics of the new bank notes, saying they should get a “map or a GPS” if they want to be geographically correct and not nitpick on the banknotes’ design.

“We should ask the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas. It’s not a map, it’s not a cartographer’s sketch, there’s a degree of artistic license also,” Aquino told reporters in an ambush interview at the airport where he surprised overseas Filipino workers returning for the holi- days.

“If I want to find out about a particular area I’ll look for a map, or I’ll go to the GPS (Global Positioning System). The currency, there’s finite amount of space on the bill and you’re supposed to include so many things... the history, the sights,” Aquino said.

“We’re inviting tourists to come and visit, our aspirations, and then you put it in what? Two inches by five inches. Itong magagaling, baka (these clever guys, maybe) they want to do it in a particular canvass,” Aquino said.

Aquino said the new bank notes have improved security features and are harder for counterfeiters to copy.

“We want to make it difficult to fake the bill because the (past) designs have been there for a long time now. The advances in technology make it easier to duplicate bills that have been in existence. There are many security features and I think the objective will be achieved,” Aquino said.

Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said critics were obviously nitpicking as they pointed out the geographical errors in the new bills. They also said the color of the rare parrot’s beak in the P500 was wrong.

“It’s very clear, even if it wasn’t the responsibility of the executive branch or at least the Office of the President, they’re finding ways and they’re trying to gather all they can to hit the President even if he’s not involved in some of the actions. They shall wait for us next year. Our promise is to deliver next year. The budget has been approved so we can work (and)… do all the things that we need to do for next year – infrastructure-wise and program-wise, we’ll be hitting the ground running next year,” Lacierda said.

Lacierda said the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, the Monetary Board and the Numismatic Society were the ones which designed the new bills and that as independent institutions, they didn’t have to seek approval of the Office of the President.

Speaking to ANC, BSP Deputy Governor Diwa Guinigundo said some of the alleged errors are not errors but “abstractions of reality.”

“I don’t think we want to describe them as errors. They are abstractions of reality. Abstractions in the sense that number 1, the map is not really complete in the sense that what we really wanted to show is the general geographical location of the six important World Heritage sites in the Philippines, for example, the Mountain Province which houses the Rice Terraces,” he said in an interview on ANC’s “Headstart.”