The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas has found a solution to the persistent problem of the public being confused with the color of P100 and P1000 bills.
Bangko Sentral Governor Amando Tetangco Jr. said in an interview the banking regulator would be issuing newly-colored P100 bills in January next year, to help the public avoid mistaking them for P1000 bills.
The P100 bills will now be printed in mauve color to easily differentiate it from the P1000 bills, he said.
“It will have the same design, but only different in color. It will be issued in January 2016. Here, the difference between the two banknotes will be easily seen,” Tetangco said.
Mauve is a pale purple color and slightly reddish. It is similar to lavender and lilac. The current P100 bill has a violet color while the P1000 bill is colored grayish blue.
“The people are complaining, but the US dollar bills are all green that is why these are called greenbacks. They slightly changed the color just recently,” Tetangco said.
He said the Americans were seldom confused by the bills because they examined them thoroughly during payments.
Senator Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel earlier asked Bangko Sentral to explain why the P1000 and P100 banknotes are almost identical to each other. Several complaints from the public were reported due to the similarity between the two banknotes, both known as the New Generation Currency.
Herbosa seen as another Kim Henares
One of the most feared government officials under the Aquino administration is probably Bureau of Internal Revenue commissioner Kim Henares, because of how she goes after tax-cheats.
Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima believes the private sector should also fear Securities and Exchange Commissioner Teresita Herbosa, who heads the agency that regulates various corporations, including listed companies.
Purisima said in a recent corporate governance forum the name “Tess Herbosa” should also generate the same fear, when the name of “Kim Henares” is mentioned.
Purisima said one problem why SEC was not being feared in the same intensity as BIR was because of the small fines and penalties the law allows the corporate regulator to impose against violators.
Still, Purisima urged the SEC to “have some teeth” and go after violators of the Securities Regulation Code. Jenniffer B. Austria
Group wants Harbour Center license revoked
A non-government organization wants state-run Philippine Ports Authority to investigate the alleged rice smuggling in all port communities nationwide.
The call of the Alliance for Good Philippine Government came after the National Coalition of Filipino Consumers filed a graft complaint before the Office of the Ombudsman against the National Food Authority and Harbour Centre Port Terminal Inc. for the alleged illegal storage of imported rice.
“If the allegations were true, then PPA must not renew the license of HCPTI which expires on January 2017 or better yet, revoke or cancel it at once,” he said.
HCPTI serves as a transshipment hub of the government’s rice importation program although its permit is being questioned. Representatives from PPA and HCPTI were unavailable for comment as of press time.
In a five-page complaint affidavit dated Oct. 19, Jayson Luna, a member of the board of directors of NCFC, said HCPTI’s warehouse was being used illegally to store imported rice without written authorization from the NFA, which is headed by administrator Renan Dalisay.
“The NFA, despite knowledge of this illegal storage of imported rice, has not acted on the illegal act,” Luna said, adding that this is in blatant violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, or Republic Act 3019.
Luna said the NFA admitted in a news statement posted on its website that “HCPTI does not have NFA accreditation, but their facilities have been used for transshipment of imported rice, under the government-to-government rice importation program.” Darwin G. Amojelar
Easier way to reload MRT beep cards
There is an easier way to reload the beep cards used in Light Rail Transit and Metro Rail Transit lines in Metro Manila. Reloading of regular beep cards still requires passengers to line up at the reloading machines and LRT or MRT counters, but Smart eMoney Inc. said users of PayMaya cards had more options.
Smart eMoney said PayMaya reloading is now available in more than 15,000 establishments nationwide. PayMaya accounts can also be funded through Smart Money and BDO accounts, via Internet banking, with many more partners coming onboard soon.
“By making more convenient channels available for our PayMaya reloading as well as spurring more use cases in retail and transport, we hope that more Filipinos will be encouraged to adopt digital financial services. We don’t want anyone to miss out in the emerging digital economy,” Smart eMoney president and chief executive Orlando Vea said.
Introduced in August by Smart eMoney, PayMaya is the first of its kind, all-in-one digital payments mobile app that can be used for online shopping, peer-to-peer transfers and telco airtime reloading. It also comes with a physical PayMaya Visa card that can be used for any face-to-face transaction with any merchant accepting Visa as well as ATM withdrawals.
They can also withdraw PayMaya funds from Bancnet ATMs using their physical PayMaya card. Train commuters can also get a physical PayMaya Visa Card with beep at activation booths in LRT and MRT stations.
The physical card with beep gives commuters access to the same advantages of online and face-to-face payments, but can also be used to pay seamlessly for LRT and MRT fares. Darwin G. Amojelar
