The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) issued a stern warning on Saturday, reminding the public that duplicating the country’s currency without authorization is a serious criminal offense.
The advisory directly addresses a viral social media trend that erroneously claimed photocopied banknotes could be used as legal tender.
“The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reminds the public that reproducing Philippine banknotes without prior BSP authorization is prohibited by law,” the agency stated in its official release.
Under BSP Circular No. 829, Series of 2014, it is strictly illegal to manufacture or distribute any facsimile of a Philippine banknote—regardless of the medium or color used—without explicit consent from the central bank. Violators face harsh legal consequences, including prison sentences ranging from five to ten years.
The misinformation stemmed from a misinterpretation of a legal argument raised during the ongoing impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte.
In the hearings, prosecutor Atty. Amando Ligutan cited the Supreme Court’s Revised Rules on Evidence to explain that accurate photographic duplicates can serve as equivalents to original documents in a court of law. Netizens quickly took this evidentiary rule out of context, sparking satirical online claims that photocopied bills are now acceptable currency.
However, the BSP clarified that rules regarding judicial evidence do not dictate the legality of the nation’s monetary system. The central bank emphasized its mandate to safeguard the integrity of the peso, noting that replication is heavily restricted.
According to the BSP, it “may authorize the reproduction of Philippine banknotes only for educational, historical, or numismatic purposes that help promote currency integrity, subject to the conditions set under BSP Circular No. 829.”