The country’s monetary agency, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas announced on Monday, that they will start withdrawing old bank notes from circulation starting January 1, 2015 until December 31, 2015. The demonetization process of the old bank notes was revealed to the media by BSP Deputy Governor Diwa C. Gunigundo.
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According to the BSP’s announcement, the public may still use the old peso bills to buy goods and services in 2015, but these will be no longer accepted for payment starting January 1, 2016.
The old bank notes currently circulating nationwide has been used since the year 1985 while the new bank notes was distributed starting on December 2010.
The BSP clarified also that the public can still exchange their old bills for the new generation currency bank notes at banks and BSP offices and branches around the country from January 1, 2015 until end of 2016. All Filipinos who are living abroad who still have the old bank notes will be given a chance to exchange their old notes through the BSP website.
Aside from ordinary citizens and OFW’s the BSP also noted that government institutions who are holding on to old bank notes, which are used in cases, may request the BSP Cash Department for a special exchange arrangement.
For those who fail to exchange their old bank notes, the BSP warned that starting January 1, 2014 these will “no longer have any monetary value, and are considered demonetized.”
According to the official data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, at present, there are 729 million pieces of the old bank notes, with a value of P192 billion, in circulation.
