FAKE: P500 Polymer Banknote Featuring Philippine Tarsier Design

Claim: Some Facebook users and pages recently shared photos of the supposedly new P1,000 and P500 bills on the platform.

At least three Facebook accounts shared the same post on Thursday, April 21.

They also have the same caption with varying emojis. It reads: “Hello new 500 and 1,000 peso bill.”

These posts also circulated after the Facebook page called Night Owl by Anna Mae Lamentillo posted a photo of the redesigned P1,000 banknote on the same day.

Lamentillo is the chairman of the Build, Build, Build committee of the Department of Public Works and Highways.

“Love the new 1,000 peso bill! Congrats, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas!” the caption reads with the Philippine flag emojis.

The redesign featured the Philippine eagle in place of the three World War 2 heroes.

It is also made of polymer materials.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas unveiled the P1,000’s new look on Facebook on April 6.

The BSP previously announced that it is set to release ten million pieces of them in a limited circulation test later this 2022.

The P1,000 bill, the highest banknote so far, currently carries the faces of Jose Abad Santos, Vicente Lim and Josefa Llanes Escoda on the front side.

Rating: The supposed new P500 polymer banknote featuring Philippine tarsier is fake.

Facts: On Friday, April 22, the BSP commented on the Facebook post of a page called “Vibes” and clarified that it did not release any P500 polymer banknote.

“Nais klaruhin ng BSP na hindi ito naglabas ng 500-Piso polymer banknote. Para sa mga official announcement, please follow our social media channels,” the comment read.

BSP has already disproved the photo of the P500 bill that featured the Philippine tarsier on the front side as fake in December 2021.

The photo was going around social media at that time.

Sought for comment, BSP Governor Benjamin Diokno told Philstar.com in a text message that it was “Fake news.”

Fact-checkers have also found that the image of the tarsier was only edited into the banknote.

A reverse image search found the tarsier to be an illustration by a Russian artist named Evgeny Turaev.

This illustration can also easily be found in several photo-sharing and stock photo websites.

The actual design of the P500 bill, the second-highest peso note in circulation, features the faces of the late democracy icons Benigno Aquino Jr. and his wife, former president Corazon “Cory” Aquino on the front side.

Why it matters:

The pages that posted the P500 photo were immediately received by thousands of Facebook users.

The post from a page called “Pepe News” got 9,800 reactions, over 700 comments, 19,000 shares as of Sunday, April 24.

The post of another account named Mae Dello Pilo gained 20,000 reactions, nine comments and 90,000 shares.

Lastly, the Facebook post on the page called “Vibes” garnered 24,000 reactions, 1,800 comments and 78,000 shares so far.

There are also several Facebook users who thought the P500 photo is real as seen on the comments section.

“Ayos wala na mukha ng mga Aquino sa 500,” one Facebook user said.

“Wala na mga mukha ng mga Aquino (‘di) naman sila mga hero,” another user commented.

In line with the removal of faces of Filipino heroes on bills, BSP said the Philippine currency will soon feature the country’s rich flora and fauna.

This article originally appeared on Interaksyon. OneNews.PH is part of #FactsFirstPH, which brings together various sectors that are committed to promoting truth in the public space, and exacting accountability on those who harm it with lies. For those interested to join the initiative, email [email protected] and [email protected].