I do not carry a wallet. I am dependent on trusty pockets, which I empty at the end of the day — phone, keys, bus tickets, receipts, mints, peso bills, and coins, tons of coins. No wonder my pockets are heavy. Amazing how many bus tickets and receipts I amass in a single day. Frustrating how I accidentally throw away peso bills along with folded receipts. No wonder I am broke by the weekend.
As I sort the contents of my pockets, I set aside the 25-cent coins in a container; throw away, along with the day’s bad memories, the tickets and receipts hidden with the peso bills; and put the mints, keys and other coins on the desk (they will be back in my pockets the next day).
I got the habit of collecting the 25-cent coins at the start of a church campaign to help poor families. It was a great mission, but how much can you actually give from a collection of cents? In a year I filled up a 500-milliliter bottle with 25-cent coins, which amounted to only P100. Should I give it to the church or just use it for paying at the store? Who would bother to count 1,600 coins? I never donated the coins to the church—ironically, out of pride. I decided to continue collecting them until their value reaches P1,000. Until they are phased out of circulation, a lowly bank teller needs to count them.
Let me jump to the other side of the coins. I’ve noticed the new, shiny P5 coin, almost the size of a P1 coin (only about less than a millimeter bigger). I looked closer and it has Andres Bonifacio on it, and the plant tayabak on the other side. Both are unfamiliar, confusing and heartbreaking. Where did they put Emilio Aguinaldo?
And, forgive my ignorance, I do not know what the tayabak is, Wikipedia says it is commonly known as jade vine and a native of Philippine forests. I have never encountered it in any readings in school. I wondered about the logic behind putting plants on the coins. I just knew that the new-generation coin series features Philippine flora.
But what do those plants actually do? Aside from being native to the Philippines, are they magical? Do they heal any disease? What can we brag about the plants?
And, still, where is Aguinaldo? In my search, I met the new P10 coin. It still features Apolinario Mabini on it, and the plant Kapa-kapa on the other side. It is slightly bigger than the P5 coin, but I kind of miss the color contrast of the old coins. Now all coins look silver, posh and polished. Aesthetically, not bad, but still confusing. Along with other changes in the country, these are the things we just need to get used to.
Get used to losing P4 when mistakenly paying the P5 coin for P1, or P9 if you are half as careless as me and offer P10 for P1. The ever math-skilled jeepney drivers must be struggling, too. Aside from the arithmetic, counting passengers, and monitoring “Judas not pay,” they need to distinguish the shiny coins in the dimmed light and the loud stereo music.
Still searching for Aguinaldo, I found out that he was not the original resident of the P5 coin. Ferdinand Marcos was it from March 1978 to December 1987. It was until April 1991 that Aguinaldo was put on the coin, with the narra tree on the other side. Now, starting December 2017, in time for his 154th birth anniversary, Bonifacio has replaced Aguinaldo on the P5 coin.
Where is Aguinaldo, really? He makes a cameo in the new P200 bill. The changes are so subtle I barely noticed them. In the obverse side of the bill, alongside Diosdado P. Macapagal, the scene of declaration of Philippine Independence in Kawit, Cavite, is portrayed. This goes with other historic scenes, such as Edsa 2 and the opening of the Malolos Congress in Barasoain Church.
Get a P200 bill and spot the difference. The old bank note displays the images of the Aguinaldo Shrine and Barasoain Church. But don’t fret, the Chocolate Hills and the Philippine tarsier are still on the reverse side of the bill.
So I guess the new Aguinaldo currency for Christmas is P200. Not bad for losing P4 for every P1 in a year. But probably that sums up to P200 annually. Do the math while I search for the meaning of plants on the coins. And try to separate the Rizal coins and Bonifacio coins, because they get confusing. They always fight in my pocket. Who is the national hero again? *wink*
Clarice Sarao says she is in search of random facts while fighting insomnia.