Philippine twenty peso bill

The Philippine twenty-peso bill (₱20) is a denomination of Philippine currency. Philippine president Manuel L. Quezon is currently featured on the front side of the bill, while the Banaue Rice Terraces and the palm civet is featured on the reverse side.

Pre-independence history

• 1936: PNB issued notes.
• 1937: Philippine Commonwealth issued treasury certificate. Features the portrait of the Mayon Volcano. This series were later overprinted with the word "VICTORY" on the reverse after the liberation of the Philippines under Japanese rule in 1944.

Post-independence history

Quezon first appeared on the twenty peso bill upon the release of the Pilipino series notes in 1969.

• 1951: English series, Features the portraits of Andres Bonifacio and Emilio Jacinto, two important figures of the Katipunan movement during the Philippine revolution, on the obverse. The reverse features the Kartilla ng Katipunan, and the Cry of Balintawak Monument.
• 1969: Pilipino series, Manuel Quezon replaced the portraits of Bonifacio and Jacinto. The note is now predominantly orange in color. On the reverse, it now features the Malacañan Palace. The design of the obverse was later revised, the font for the text Republika ng Pilipinas and Dalawampung Piso was changed, the color of the portrait of Quezon was changed from brown to orange and geometric lines were added on the sides and the watermark area of the bill. This design was later used when the Bagong Lipunan series was released in 1973.
• 1972: Ang Bagong Lipunan series, The "Ang Bagong Lipunan" text was added and was overprinted on the watermark area.
• 1986: New design series, The bill was completely redesigned and new elements regarding Quezon's accomplishments were added on the right side, namely the establishment of Tagalog as the Philippine national language (Wikang Pambansa), the coat-of-arms of the Commonwealth and the approval of the 1935 Constitution (Saligang Batas 1935). The Malacañang Palace picture at the reverse was updated to reflect the renovations to the building itself.
• 1993: After the creation of the "Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas", its new logo was incorporated on all the New Design series bills.
• 1998: The year of printing was added at the bottom of the denomination value located at the upper left corner of the obverse. The names of the signatories on the bills were later added starting with banknotes featuring the signature of President Joseph Estrada.
• 2010: New generation series, The portrait of Manuel Quezon was revised, the Malacañang Palace was moved from the reverse to the bottom center of the obverse. The reverse now features the Banaue Rice Terraces and the palm civet.^[1]

Commemorative issues

Throughout its existence, the twenty peso bill was often been overprinted to commemorate certain events, namely:

International Year of Microcredit commemorative bill

On November 1, 2004, as part of the world launching of the United Nations Year of Microcredit in 2005, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas issued 10 million pieces of the 20 peso bill with an overprint of the official logo and the phrase "Sustainable Microfinance Services for the Filipino Entrepreneurial Poor" on the bottom.^[2]

60 years of Central Banking commemorative bill

On July 9, 2009, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas introduced 12 million banknotes (2 million banknotes for each denomination) with an overprint commemorating 60 years of central banking. The overprint appears on the watermark area on all six circulating denominations.

Error on new 20-peso banknote

The Banaue Rice Terraces are erroneously labelled as a UNESCO World Heritage Site on the new generation 20-peso bill. This despite a warning made to the designer by ICOMOS Philippines chairperson Augusto F. Villalon, one of the movers behind the inscription of the Rice Terraces of the Philippine Cordilleras on the UNESCO World Heritage List. The Banaue Rice Terraces were not included in the UNESCO inscription Rice Terraces of the Philippine Cordilleras in 1995 due to the lack of integrity of the surrounding environment resulting from the numerous modern structures that had not been regulated by the local government.

Notes