Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City

FIFTEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

HOUSE BILL No.__ 8269

Introduced by REPS. NERI JAVIER COLMENARES and TEDDY A. CASINO

EXPLANATORY NOTE,

AN ACT FOR AN ELDERLY AND VISUALLY IMPAIRED FRIENDLY
PHILIPPINE CURRENCY DESIGN,
AMENDING SECTION 53 OF REPUBLIC ACT No. 7653

It is about time that the Philippines adopts an elderly and visually impaired friendly

design for our elderly and visually impaired.

Itis the policy of the State to exert all efforts to remove all social, cultural, economic,
environmental and attitudinal barriers that are discriminatory to differently abled
persons. However, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas and the President has failed to
seriously consider the condition of the elderly and differently abled in designing our
currency despite the fact that a growing number of our people are becoming visually
impaired.

According to Resources for the Blind, Inc., there more than half a million blind
people and many more who are visually impaired to a lesser degree in the Philippines.
Further, statistics also reveal that about 100 children lose their sight every week. For
the elderly, cataract is considered the leading cause of blindness.

Despite the huge number of visually impaired persons in the country, the different
denominations of Philippine money are not easily distinguishable to the visually
impaired especially those who were afflicted with blindness at a later age.

Although every banknote denomination differs in color, they still all have the same
size and do not have any distinguishable feature (raised dots or markings, imprint,
etc.) that can be recognized by the elderly or visually impaired. They oftentimes have
to rely on other people to tell them how much they are receiving or giving which not
only makes them vulnerable to fraud but also contribute to their disempowerment.
This essentially denies them meaningful access to the use of the currency.

Under Sec. 53 of Republic Act No. 7653, it is stated that, “the Monetary Board, with
the approval of the President of the Philippines, shall prescribe the denominations,
dimensions, designs, inscriptions and other characteristics of notes issued by the
Bangko Sentral: ...



This bill requires the Monetary Board to take cognizance of the plight of the blind and
the visually impaired in designing Philippine peso notes and coins. Raised dots
signifying “100” or “500” for example, on the top left front side of a note that can be
easily felt by touch and would differentiate it from other denominations would greatly
help our elderly and the visually impaired.

The BSP has been previously appropriated funds for the printing and minting of
Philippine currency. It is in fact in the process of designing our new notes and coins.

The immediate approval of this bill is therefore earnestly sought.

N. Coane

TEDDY A. CASINO



Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City

FIFTEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

HOUSE BILL No. __ 8203

Introduced by REPS. NERI JAVIER COLMENARES and TEDDY A. CASINO

AN ACT FOR AN ELDERLY AND VISUALLY IMPAIRED FRIENDLY
PHILIPPINE CURRENCY DESIGN,
AMENDING SECTION 53 OF REPUBLIC ACT No. 7653

Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of Representatives of the Philippines in
Congress assembled:

Section 1. Section 53 of the Republic Act No, 7653 of the Central Bank Act is
hereby amended to read as follows:

Section 53. Characteristics of the Currency. - The Monetary Board, with the
approval of the President of the Philippines, shall prescribe the denominations,
dimensions, designs, inscriptions and other characteristics of notes issued by
the Bangko Sentral: Provided, however, That said notes shall state that they
are liabilities of the Bangko Sentral and are fully guaranteed by the
Government of the Republic of the Philippines. Said notes shall bear the
signatures, in facsimile, of the President of the Philippines and of the
Governor of the Bangko Sentral.

Similarly, the Monetary Board, with the approval of the President of the
Philippines, shall prescribe the weight, fineness, designs, denominations and
other characteristics of the coins issued by the Bangko Sentral. In the minting
of coins, the Monetary Board shall give full consideration to the availability of
suitable metals and to their relative prices and cost of minting.

ADDITIONALLY, ALL THESE NOTES SHALL BEAR FEATURES
EASILY DISTINGUISHABLE TO THE ELDERLY AND THE VISUALLY
IMPAIRED BY ENSURING THAT EACH CURRENCY
DENOMINATION, WHETHER NOTES OR COINS, SHALL HAVE
DIFFERENT SIZES OR DESIGNS AND THAT EACH NOTE SHALL,
HAVE RAISED DOTS OR MARKINGS TO SIGNIFY ITS
DENOMINATION. THE MONETARY BOARD SHALL ALWAYS
CONSIDER THE ELDERLY AND THE DIFFERENTLY ABLED WHEN
DESIGNING NOTES AND COINS.


Section 2. Effectivity Clause. - This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days
following its publication in the Official Gazette or in two (2) national newspapers of
general circulation.

Section 3. Separability Clause. - If any provision or section of this Act or the
application thereof to any person or circumstance is held unconstitutional or invalid,
the other provisions or sections of this Act, and the application of such provision or
section to other persons or circumstances, shall not be affected thereby.

Approved,