A TikToker was under fire on Wednesday for burning a P20 bill to light up a bottle of gin, which is a violation according to the central bank.
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said the act in the video was a violation of Presidential Decree No. 247, which prohibits the defacement, mutilation, tearing, burning or destruction of Philippine currency.
"'Yung corresponding bank note at 'yung coin ay pagmamay-ari ng Republika ng Pilipinas. Naka-receive siya ng maraming backlash from the public...pi-null-out niya agad," Mark Fajardo, Senior Investigation Officer of BSP, told GMA News.
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Violators of the law must pay a fine of not more than P20,000 and can be imprisoned for not more than five years.
After checking other social media posts and coordinating with the barangay, the BSP and the Philippine National Police identified the user who uploaded the TikTok.
"Napag-tataagni-tagni po in terms of the location, the whereabouts, kung saan siya nakatira at 'yung identity ng tao. And may mga validations po na ginagawa," said Dickenson Gamalo of BSP-Quezon City.
"Kahit sa social media ay maaari tayong makapag-commit ng mga ganitong violations. Wala po kayong takas," Gamalo added.
Aside from violating Presidential Decree No. 247, the BSP also filed a case for violations of Article 154 of the Revised Penal Code against unlawful utterances and Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2022.
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