In part 15 of the History of Philippine Paper Money we will dive into special commemorative banknotes of the Philippines (1998-onwards).
Uncirculated Commemorative Banknotes
The Philippines has only released a small number of commemorative banknotes, most of which are legal tender though not intended for general circulation.
The first commemorative note was released in 1998 (P#189a) and featured president Joseph Estrada being sworn in as president. It was released to commemorate the centennial of Philippine Independence and featured the Barasoain Church, Malolos. It was re-released again in 2001 but was of a significantly smaller size (P#189c). The new release had a mintage of 5,000,000 notes. However, all but 50,000 were destroyed due to then President Estrada being ousted under civil protests and accusations of corruption. The 50,000 that remained were demonetized (no longer legal tender) and sold to collectors. Each commemorative note came displayed in a folder. You can read more about these notes in this blog post.
In 1998 the 100,000 piso note was released to commemorate the centenary of Philippine independence. Only 1,000 notes were produced. These banknotes are available but are expensive.
In 2021 the 5,000 peso Lapu-Lapu banknote was reportedly sold out within 1 hour of being released. Like many other collectors I had my name on the list but it wasn’t to be.
| Image | Denomination/Year | Notes |
|---|---|---|
 | 2,000 Piso (P#189a) 1998 | Measures 216 x 33 mm – 300,000 printed. Released in a blue folder with Gold “Bangko Sentral Ng Pilipinas” logo on the front and certificate of issuance inside (certificate # matching the banknote serial number). |
 | 2,000 Piso (P#189c) 2001 | Measures 160 x 66 mm – 5,000,000 were printed, all but 50,000 were destroyed. Banknotes were released in a yellow folder. |
| not acquired | 100,000 Piso (P#190) 1998 | Measures 56 x 216 mm – only 1,000 were printed. When released this held a Guinness Book record as the worlds largest legal tender banknote (in size), a record that has since been claimed by Malaysia. |
| not acquired | 5,000 Piso 2021 | 216 × 133 mm. Commemorating the 500th Anniversary of the Victory at Mactan. Featuring Lapu-Lapu on the obverse and the Philippine Eagle and coconut tree on the reverse. |