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Currencies > Banknotes | Coins | Credit Cards

The currency in the Philippines is the Philippine peso (or piso), divided into 100 centavos (or centimo). Currently (January 2002), the U.S. dollar is worth about 52 pesos, and the euro about 46 pesos. Current are coins of 1, 5, 10, and 25 centavos and 1 and 5 pesos, and bank notes of 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200, 500 and 1000 pesos. The 5 peso note is no longer printed, but still legal tender.

A few years ago, all old Philippine currency was replaced by new banknotes and coins, which are now the only ones valid. Older notes cannot be used anymore.

BANKNOTES

5 Pesos

The 5 peso note depicts Emilio Aguinaldo, a Philippine resistance hero who first fought the Spanish, and later the American occupiers of the country. The first president of the Philippines. On the reverse you can see the proclamation of Philippine independence, from the balcony of Aguinaldo's house. You won't find this note much in circulation today, as it has been replaced by a 5 peso coin.

10 Pesos

The 10 peso note depicts Apolinario Mabini and Andres Bonifacio. You can also get across an older version with only Mabini. On the reverse is the church of Barasoain.

20 Pesos

The 20 peso note depicts Manuel L. Quezon. On the reverse you can see the Presidential Palace, the Malakañang.

50 Pesos

The 50 peso note depicts Sergio Osmeña. On the reverse you can see the Executive House. Be careful not to confuse it with the 20 peso note, as the color is nearly the same.

100 Pesos

The 100 peso note depicts Manuel A. Roxas. On the reverse you can see the buildings of the Philippine National Bank.

200 Pesos

Introduced in 2002, the 200 peso note commemorates the the June 12 Independence Day, and the EDSA II uprising. It depicts president Diosdado Macapagal, the father of the current president, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, who is also depicted on the back of the note.

500 Pesos

The 500 peso note depicts Benigno S. Aquino Jr.

1000 Pesos

The 1000 peso note depicts Jose Abad Santos, Vincent Lim, and Josefa Llanes Escoda. On the reverse you can see the rice terasses in Banawe, and some tribal artifacts. You won't come across this note very often, and you shouldn't expect your taxi driver to have change from it.

COINS

In the Philippines, coins of 1, 5, 10, and 25 centavos (officially called sentimo), and 1, 5 and 10 pesos (officially piso) are in use. All older coins have been demonetized, and cannot be used anymore.

You will probably never see the one centavo coin for real, as they are very difficult to find, and also pretty useless. The five centavo coin, is exactly the same size as the one centavo coin, but actually has less metal, due to the hole. This coin is also not very useful, and sometimes seen as decoration on key-rings, or used as emergency washers. The the smallest coin you'll actually find in common use is the twenty-five centavo coin. The one peso coin, depicts the national hero José Rizal, and the five peso coin freedom fighter Emilio Aguinaldo. The bimetallic ten peso coin was recently introduced, and is not yet in wide circulation. This coin shows the freedom fighters Apolinario Mabini and Andres Bonifacio. Note that the same heroes also appeared on the (former) bank notes of the same value.

CREDIT CARDS

Visa, MasterCard and, to a lesser extent, American Express are widely accepted throughout Manila and other major cities, and also in popular tourist destinations such as Boracay. You can withdraw cash from 24-hour ATMs (in the Visa, Plus, Mastercard and Cirrus networks) in all cities and even many smaller towns. Most banks will advance cash against cards (generally Visa and MasterCard) for a commission. If you use credit cards to pay for airline tickets and hotels, there is sometimes an extra charge of around 2.5 percent. Some shops impose a credit-card supplement of six percent, so always check first.

If you need to get money wired to you in the Philippines it's best to go to one of the banks in the business district of the Cities of Vigan or Candon, such as Philippine National Bank, Metrobank or Bank of the Philippine Islands. They will ask you to open an account, which can be done over the counter in a matter of minutes, as long as you have two forms of identification, each with your photo. A transfer will take about five working days. Another option is to use Western Union Money Transfer, which has offices in 182 countries including many in Ilocos Sur. Watch out for the charges, which start at $13 for amounts up to $50 and rise to $100 for amounts from $2,000 to $2,500.

Some banks such as PCI will let you open an account and give you an ATM card for a minimum deposit of P2000. Some travelers open an account in Ilocos Sur even for a couple of weeks because it's safer than carrying cash. There are PCI banks all over the country where you can use your card to withdraw.

References:

http://www.bohol.ph/money.php (Banknotes)

http://www.bohol.ph/article.php?id=34&sid=24aa0622f9f7db3bb1831dddffa77c70 (Coins)

http://travel.yahoo.com/p-travelguide-829501-philippines_money-i

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