Redesign of P1,000 bill a prelude to removal of Aquinos from P500?

FROM ONE TO TWO The image of the late President Corazon Aquino was added to the 500 peso bill in December 2010. —FILE PHOTO.

MANILA, Philippines — Are the Aquinos next?

The unceremonious erasure of three Filipino patriots from the redesigned P1,000 banknote has sparked a call in the Senate to compel the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) to seek clearance from Congress first before making any such decision to “silence memories of heroism” on the country’s legal tender.

Sen. Nancy Binay said the design of the new plastic polymer P1,000 bill, featuring a Philippine eagle where World War II martyrs Josefa Llanes-Escoda, Jose Abad Santos and Vicente Lim used to be, was a disappointing move that should have invited consultation with lawmakers and historians.

“The BSP did not only erase our heroes in the P1,000 bill, it has also diminished Philippine history by focusing on plants and animals. It is as though our heroes literally lost face,” the chair of the Senate tourism panel said in a statement.

‘Hero delegitimation’

“It is sad that [Abad Santos, Lim and Llanes-Escoda] have become the first casualties of retail revisionism and hero delegitimation,” Binay said.

Abad Santos was the fifth chief justice of the country, Lim was a brigadier general who commanded an Army division during the Battle of Bataan and Llanes-Escoda was the founder of the Girl Scouts of the Philippines. The three played key roles in the Philippine resistance to the Japanese Occupation.

“For some strange reason, BSP is slowly silencing memories of heroism and acts of patriotism,” she added.

Binay’s comments echoed outrage on social media, with some Twitter users remarking that it could be a prelude to the removal of the images of the late Sen. Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr. and the late former President Corazon Aquino from the P500 bill amid a relentless disinformation campaign to depict Ferdinand Marcos’ dictatorship in a positive light at the expense of those who were martyred.

Reconsider decision

On Monday, Manila Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso pressed BSP to explain its decision to replace the three heroes with that of a Philippine eagle.

“I’m trying to call the attention of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas to reconsider their decision. While it is true that the eagle should be there also, but perhaps, we could do it half way,” he said.

“Our heroes could be on the front side while the reverse side could feature national treasures that are important and unique to our country, such as the eagle,” Domagoso said in Filipino.

Binay suggested that any redesign of Philippine coins and banknotes “should first be cleared and endorsed by the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP), and concurred by Congress before being released for circulation.”

“Redesigning our money should have the concurrence of Congress and the NHCP because it has relevance and implications on our history, and there’s a higher purpose to what image or content should be printed on notes and coins,” she said.

The BSP earlier announced the issuance of new polymer P1,000 bills as part of its direction to shift to a plastic synthetic material instead of cotton and abaca.