(UPDATE as of Dec. 28, 2016: The BSP extended the date for exchanging old bills with banks till March 31, 2017)
For the past few days, I have been cleaning out drawers and closets little by little. If you still haven’t heard, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) will be demonetizing old paper bills by January 1, 2017.
The schedule is shown above but for the sake of those who cannot understand Filipino, here is how they plan to do it.
1. All paper bills currently in circulation can still be used to pay for goods and services or given out as change for the whole of 2015.
2. From January 1, 2016 to December 31, 2016, all the paper bills shown on the left column of the infographic (“Lumang serye ng salapi” or old series of bills) can only be exchanged in banks and at the BSP.
3. Beginning January 1, 2017, the old series of bills on the lefthand column of the infographic will be FULLY DEMONETIZED. That means it has zero commercial value and can no longer be used as legal tender or exchanged with banks/BSP.
Check your kids’ wallets, drawers, schoolbags and places where they may have stashed away bills from their allowances. Inform your household help, family and friends as well. Sharing the infographic above with them will go a long way in helping them sort the old from the new.