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Tacloban City ? The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) in Eastern Visayas has reported an alarming increase of counterfeit bills in this city.
BSP-8 Director Leonides Sumbi on Tuesday said that the counterfeit bills were in P100, P200, P500 and P1,000 denominations.
"The number of counterfeit bills circulating in Tacloban is alarming, especially the P200 bills. And we project that more fake bills will circulate as the elections draw near," Sumbi said.
She disclosed that from January to July this year, the BSP-8 and the police recovered 91 fake P200 bills from various stores in Tacloban City, up from only 14 fake P200 bills recovered last year.
The BSP recovered 140 pieces of fake P1,000 bills during the seven-month period this year, which was higher than the 87 pieces recovered last year, she added.
Sumbi also disclosed that the recovered fake P500 bills and P100 bills for the first seven months of 2009 reached 65 and 12, respectively.
Last year, the BSP-8 recovered 60 fake P500 bills and nine fake P100 bills.
Last March, the agents of the National Bureau of Investigation in Manila arrested two men with some P1 million worth of fake money. A still unidentified Samar solon was said to be behind this illegal activity.
Sumbi urged those who have fake money in their possession to turn it over to the BSP. In turn, the BSP would exchange these with the genuine money bill, she said. Fake money could be distinguished from the bogus one through its color, quality of paper and printing, she said. /Inquirer
