Feel, Look, Tilt Bills to Determine if Fake

It takes three simple steps to detect if the money is genuine or fake – feel, look, tilt.

These are the quick ways that Sabina Sermonia performs in her job as cashier in a respected university here in Iloilo to spot if the money she is receiving from the school’s clients is counterfeit or not.

“Sa kadamuon sang kwarta nga ginabaton ko halos adlaw-adlaw, kinanlan alert gid ako (With the huge amount of money I am receiving almost every day, I have to be alert),” she said.

She said that she has to be aware of the features and designs of the different denominations of the Philippine banknote. In fact, the booklet their office received from Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) regarding the peso banknotes was very helpful in equipping herself with the skills to spot counterfeit bills.

She said she is also aware that the old banknotes can no longer be used in daily transactions starting next year.

“Medyo mabudlay mag-familiarize sang features sang bag-o nga kwarta kaysa sa daan kay siyempre naandan ko na (It is quite difficult to be familiar with the features of the new banknote as compared to the old ones because I have been used to it),” she explained.

However, she believes that the new peso bills under the New Generation Currency (NGC) series have better security features.

According to BSP, the public only has less than a year to spend its old banknotes or peso bills or until December this year.

The demonetization of the peso bills, also known as the New Design Series (NDS) banknotes, will start on January 1, 2016 and these will fully lose their monetary value starting January 1, 2017.

With less than a year that the old banknotes can be used for daily transactions, the BSP urged the public to be familiar with the design, characteristics and distinct features of the NGC which is the new banknote series.

According to a BSP booklet on the NGC series, the banknotes, denominated in P20, P50, P100, P200, P500 and P1000, contain upgraded security features as well as fresh and old design elements.

The BSP said that the public can familiarize themselves with the design, characteristics and distinct features of the banknotes by doing the following: feel the paper, examine the watermark, inspect the security fiber, view the windowed security thread check the concealed value, check the optically variable ink, check the serial number and recognize the portrait and color.

Banknotes are printed on a special paper that gives them the unique feel. The printed lines and colors on the banknotes are sharp, clear, and free from smudges.

By running one’s fingers across the front of the note, one can feel raised prints in areas such as the words “REPUBLIKA NG PILIPINAS” and denomination in words, portrait, signatures, and lower right value panel on the face of the note.

Also part of the security features is a see-through mark of the word “Pilipino” – written in baybayin or the pre-Hispanic Philippine Alphabet – in complete form when viewed against the light.

The P500 and the P1,000 notes have optically variable device or OVD patch that changes colors from green to red and red to green.

All banknotes in the NGC series have the OVD patch with BSP logo, amount of the currency and the hero or president watermark. The old banknotes do not have an OVD patch.

The BSP said that the easiest way to distinguish between the NGC and NDS peso bills is to check the image or portrait of heroes and past presidents of the Philippines.

Meanwhile, Rose Kareen Defensor, a law student, said that before she was interviewed, she was not aware that old banknotes can no longer be used in transactions outside banks starting next year.

“The banks should also put notices in their entrance near the tellers regarding the demonetization of the old peso bills so that more people would also know,” she added. (JCM/LTP/PIA-Iloilo)