Geographically-challenged Philippine maps and a rare
parrot with the wrong-coloured beak have perturbed the country
after the central bank rolled out error-filled new editions of its
peso bills.
The new-generation banknotes, rolled out earlier this month and
containing the signature of President Benigno Aquino who took
office this year, bombed spectacularly in the graphics department,
critics say.
The reverse side of the new 500-peso (11 dollar) bill features a
rare native bird, the blue-naped parrot, with its red beak
incorrectly rendered in yellow and the tail feathers underneath
coloured green instead of yellow.
A map on the bill -- which also carries portraits of Aquino's
late parents -- mislocates Saint Paul's, a subterranean river that
is designated as a UNESCO world heritage site.
"Yes, they have made a very big booboo on the parrot," said Jon
Villasper, a cartographer who is also a member of the Wild Bird
Club of the Philippines.
"Aside from that, they misplaced Tubbataha reef by around 400
kilometres and Batanes is not on the map. I believe they also
misplaced Saint Pauls subterranean river," he told AFP by
email.
Printed on the 1,000-peso bill is a map locating the Tubbataha
Reef Marine Park, another prized Philippine UNESCO world heritage
site, on or near Malaysian territorial waters.
The map of the Philippines which features on six different bills
re-draws the country's territory to place its northern limit 150
kilometres south of the actual line and exclude the Batanes island
group.
Ghelynne Avril del Rosario, a Manila lawyer, said the mistakes
echoed a re-branding campaign by the tourism ministry that was
withdrawn last month amid charges that its slogan was forgettable,
it plagiarised Poland's campaign and the URL of its website was
close to that of a pornographic site.
Like the campaign, the bills are now fodder for ridicule on
Internet social networking sites, Rosario told AFP.
"Just like scrapping the 'Pilipinas Kay Ganda (Philippines What
a Beauty) slogan, let's scrap the new peso notes as well!" she
said.
Central bank spokeswoman Fe de la Cruz acknowledged the
criticism, but said space constraints limited the artist's room for
manoeuvre.
"In choosing the design..., we are always guided by our
commitment to enrich the appreciation and knowledge of the
Filipinos we honour on our banknotes, as well as the unique sites
and species our country should be proud of," she said.
"For our banknotes we used an artist's rendition of the
Philippine map that by virtue of space and aesthetics does not
reflect all of our islands and the precise coordinates of each
site," she told AFP.
"Nevetheless, we appreciate constructive comments and we will
take these into account moving forward."
It was not the first time the central bank has been left
red-faced over currency design. It was forced in 2005 to withdraw
bills that misspelled the name of Gloria Arroyo, Aquino's
predecessor as president.
The bill, which called her Gloria Arrovo, became a much
sought-after collectors' item.