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The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) will coordinate with the National Bureau of Investigation in Central Visayas (NBI-7) to neutralize those involved in the manufacture of fake peso bills following reports that some politicians in the province had attempted to make counterfeit money for use in the upcoming elections.
Diwa Guinigundo, OIC governor of the BSP, said his office has not yet received information so far on any incident of counterfeiting being investigated by the NBI in the region but said his office would communicate with the investigators and issue a warning to the public against fraudulent bills.
?We are serious in jailing all those who manufacture fake bills,? Guinigundo said yesterday in a press conference during the opening of the Financial Education Program of the BSP at its regional office in Cebu aimed at informing the public on how to make wise investments as well as the use of credit institutions.
Guinigundo said rewards would be given to those who will provide information that will lead to the arrest of suspected manufacturers of fake peso bills.
?We encourage all informants to help us out and if they have any information that will lead to the arrest of these people,? said Guinigundo.
On Feb. 23, Cebu 1st district congressional aspirant Luna Sabalones, 53, said she was duped of P4 million by at least seven men in Manila who promised to duplicate her peso bills. But the transaction turned out to be a scam. Instead of fake peso bills, she was given several wads of bond paper cut like peso bills.
She went to the NBI-7 for help to recover her money and find the culprits.
Sabalones, a candidate of the Partido ng Masang Pilipino, said she met the suspects, who identified themselves as PMP members, last year.
Last February, the same suspects approached her with an offer to ?multiply? her money.
According to her, the suspects first demanded P1 million to be used to buy chemicals and other materials in forging money bills. She said she handed over several P1,000 bills amounting P3 million to the suspects to be used in the manufacture of the counterfeit bills at a house in Manila.
When she got back to Cebu, the ?multiplied? money turned out to be mere pieces of paper shaped like peso bills.
Guinigundo said there was no need for candidates to manufacture fake bills even with a high demand during the elections. ?We have enough bills worth P2 billion. So there will be no reason for the candidates to seek the help of illegal manufacturers.
He also explained that there are ways to determine if a currency is fake or not because of its built-in security features. Even the NBI, he said can detect those original from dubious bills.
