Filipinos will have to "adjust" to the new P1,000 polymer banknote by using a wallet or a purse big enough to prevent the bill from being folded, the incoming central bank chief said.
The newer, non-paper money, which is touted to be longer-lasting and more secure by design, could break with too much folding, incoming Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Felipe Medalla said.
"One thing to adjust is to have wallets or purses that prevent it from being totally folded. Dapat ang wallet singhaba ng pera para hindi I-fold," Medalla told One News PH, citing as an example the people of Australia and their use of big wallets since the country's pioneer adoption of the plastic-based money in the late 1980s.
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One could either do this or place a cardboard or an old credit card inside their wallets to wrap the money around, he said, adding that this needed extra-care would be "easier" for women.
"Mas madali 'yun sa babae kasi may handbag kayo eh. So mas madali sa babae na hindi ma-fold," he said.
The BSP's redesign of the P1,000 bill has been critized, mainly for its replacement of World War II heroes and martyrs Jose Abad Santos, Vicente Lim, and Josefa Llanes-Escoda with an image of the Philippine eagle.
Renowned historians had called the move a "slap in the face" of the heroes who died in service of the country.
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