Thread: Philippines in uproar over error-filled peso bills

Philippines in uproar over error-filled peso bills
19/12/2010

Geographically-challenged Philippine maps and a rare parrot with the wrong-coloured beak have perturbed the country after the central bank rolled out error-filled new editions of its peso bills.


An uncut sheet of Philippine 500 pesos bank notes. Geographically-challenged Philippine maps and a rare parrot with the wrong-coloured beak have perturbed the country after the central bank rolled out error-filled new editions of its peso bills.

The new-generation banknotes, rolled out earlier this month and containing the signature of President Benigno Aquino who took office this year, bombed spectacularly in the graphics department, critics say.

The reverse side of the new 500-peso (11 dollar) bill features a rare native bird, the blue-naped parrot, with its red beak incorrectly rendered in yellow and the tail feathers underneath coloured green instead of yellow.

A map on the bill -- which also carries portraits of Aquino's late parents -- mislocates Saint Paul's, a subterranean river that is designated as a UNESCO world heritage site.

"Yes, they have made a very big booboo on the parrot," said Jon Villasper, a cartographer who is also a member of the Wild Bird Club of the Philippines.

"Aside from that, they misplaced Tubbataha reef by around 400 kilometres and Batanes is not on the map. I believe they also misplaced Saint Paul?s subterranean river," he told AFP by email.

Printed on the 1,000-peso bill is a map locating the Tubbataha Reef Marine Park, another prized Philippine UNESCO world heritage site, on or near Malaysian territorial waters.

The map of the Philippines which features on six different bills re-draws the country's territory to place its northern limit 150 kilometres south of the actual line and exclude the Batanes island group.

Ghelynne Avril del Rosario, a Manila lawyer, said the mistakes echoed a re-branding campaign by the tourism ministry that was withdrawn last month amid charges that its slogan was forgettable, it plagiarised Poland's campaign and the URL of its website was close to that of a pornographic site.

Like the campaign, the bills are now fodder for ridicule on Internet social networking sites, Rosario told AFP.

"Just like scrapping the 'Pilipinas Kay Ganda (Philippines What a Beauty) slogan, let's scrap the new peso notes as well!" she said.

Central bank spokeswoman Fe de la Cruz acknowledged the criticism, but said space constraints limited the artist's room for manoeuvre.

"In choosing the design..., we are always guided by our commitment to enrich the appreciation and knowledge of the Filipinos we honour on our banknotes, as well as the unique sites and species our country should be proud of," she said.

"For our banknotes we used an artist's rendition of the Philippine map that by virtue of space and aesthetics does not reflect all of our islands and the precise coordinates of each site," she told AFP.

"Nevetheless, we appreciate constructive comments and we will take these into account moving forward."

It was not the first time the central bank has been left red-faced over currency design. It was forced in 2005 to withdraw bills that misspelled the name of Gloria Arroyo, Aquino's predecessor as president.

The bill, which called her Gloria Arrovo, became a much sought-after collectors' item.

bangkokpost.com

Ha Ha. Not shocked, me......

Didn't they do something similar to this before?

^See last two paragraphs of the OP. Reading is a valuable skill.

Seems a lot of countries are screwing up printing lately. I guess when you make more you make more mistakes.

Originally Posted by Davis Knowlton

^See last two paragraphs of the OP. Reading is a valuable skill.

I would've but I'm blind you know

I'd put it in big font for us digit but some would say it's shouting

They are now claiming the parrot is an "artistic interpretation", and that the map errors were simply due to a miniaturization of the map. And carrying on with printing and distribution. I would keep one or two in hopes that they might one day be worth some money, but I think I'll wait until they do one right, and keep that one.

BSP urged to redesign erroneous new peso bills
Sheryll Mundo
12/20/2010

MANILA, Philippines - Wild Birds Club founding member and geographer Jonathan Villasper urged the central bank on Monday to either redesign or revise its new peso bills.

Villasper said the blue-naped parrot in P500 bill has yellow beak instead of red. Its tail should also be longer.

Blue-naped parrots are found all over the Philippines and not just in Palawan.

Villasper said the parrot in the bill resembles the Guaiabero parrot or the Bolbopsittacus lunulatus.

Batanes is not included in the maps of all the new bills, while the Tubbataha Reef in the P1,000 bill is out of position by almost 400 kilometers, Villasper added.

The maps also mislocated Palawan’s Saint Paul’s subterranean river that has been designated a UNESCO world heritage site.

Scientific names of animals are likewise not in proper format.

Villasper is geographer and taught digital cartography at the University of the Philippines.

He said it only takes a few minutes to verify information on the new peso bills.

He added that the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas should have consulted experts on the subject before approving the release of the new bills.

abs-cbnnews.com