P1,000 Polymer Banknote Wins as “Banknote of the Year Award”, BSP Says
The Philippines’ P1,000 polymer banknote just earned the International Banknote Society’s (IBS) “Banknote of the Year Award” for 2022.
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) stated on Thursday, May 4, 2023, that this is the first time a Philippine banknote has received the honor, beating out finalists from Algeria, Barbados, Egypt, Northern Ireland, and Scotland.
The award-winning polymer banknote features a Philippine eagle, the national flower Sampaguita, the Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park, the T’boli people’s T’nalak weave design, and the South Sea Pearl.
The old design, which portrayed Philippine heroes Vicente Lim, Josefa Llanes Escoda, and Jose Abad Santos, has been replaced.
The International Bureau of Standards praised the Philippines’ effective design, describing it as “eye-pleasing blue combines an endangered species with an environmental motif.” The design was initially revealed to the public in December 2021, approved by the National Historical Institute, and released in April 2022.
However, the new design was met with criticism at first, with some stakeholders concerned that Philippine heroes were being erased in favor of flora and fauna.
The concerns were addressed by then-BSP Governor and current Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno, who stated that both heroes and natural elements are crucial to cultural preservation and promoting the country’s heritage. He vowed that both will be commemorated in the form of coins and banknotes in the future.
The BSP has previously stated that it will test the polymer banknotes with a few hundred million pieces, using a comparable substance to that used in Australia, Canada, Mexico, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom.
The International Banknote Society (IBS) is a non-profit organization that promotes the study and knowledge of global banknotes and paper currencies.
Since 2004, the association has given the “Banknote of the Year Award” to celebrate exceptional banknote designs and technical achievements in the industry. The Philippines’ win in the prize demonstrates the country’s inventiveness, ingenuity, and dedication to cultural preservation through its banknotes.
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