Controversy has erupted over the removal of Filipino heroes who fought Japanese occupation from the redesigned Php 1,000 bank notes.
This has sparked a call in the Senate to compel the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) to seek clearance from Congress first before issuing the notes.
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Sen. Nancy Binay said the design of the new plastic polymer PhP 1,000 bill featuring a Philippine eagle in place of World War II martyrs Josefa Llanes-Escoda, Jose Abad Santos and Vicente Lim was a disappointing move.
The chair of the Senate tourism panel said in a statement that the BSP did not only erase “our heroes in the PhP 1,000 bill, it has also diminished Philippine history by focusing on plants and animals. It is as though our heroes literally lost face.”
Several social media users also criticized the move while Nancy Binay said the BSP should have invited consultation with lawmakers and historians.
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“It is sad that [Abad Santos, Lim and Llanes-Escoda] have become the first casualties of retail revisionism and hero delegitimation,” said Binay, adding, ” For some strange reason, BSP is slowly silencing memories of heroism and acts of patriotism.”
Lauded in Philippines Abad Santos was the fifth chief justice of the country, Lim was a brigadier general who commanded an Army division during the Battle of Bataan and Llanes-Escoda was the founder of the Girl Scouts of the Philippines and the trio played key roles in the Philippine resistance to the Japanese Occupation. (AW)
