Never play with money — avoid tearing it, stapling it, writing on it, or putting holes in it. You should not also use it as a funnel, or as a rag to wipe your shoes clean.
Most importantly, be careful what you post online.
This, in essence, is what a group of social media influencers learned the hard way after the Philippine National Police Anti-Cybercrime Group (PNP-ACG) filed charges against them for violation of Presidential Decree No. 247, which prohibits and penalizes the defacement, mutilation, tearing, burning or destruction of Central Bank notes, as well as the unlawful use of means of publication and unlawful utterances.
The PNP-ACG filed a complaint against Syrian national Samer Ousta (A.K.A. “ForeignGerms” and “Habibi Sami”) and four other vloggers in Quezon City after the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) requested the ACG for technical assistance in monitoring the activities of the social media accounts of the suspects.
Charged along with Ousta were Arnold Galentes Rogero, also known as “Cholo TV”; Carl Romulo Miclat Quion, also known as “carlquion”; Ritchard Pinero Eramel, also known as “ekongyahoo.com”; and Joel Espinosa Mallanao, a.k.a “qyuarfheerzzchyam.”
Earlier this year, the BSP and the Philippine National Police also took legal action against a Tiktok user for burning a P20 bill. The BSP said it would “pursue the case until conviction.”
Signed in 1963, the decree could result in five-year imprisonment and a P20,000 fine for the offenders.
Meanwhile, Article 154 of the Revised Penal Code states that any person who, by means of printing or any other means of publication, shall cause to be published as news any “false news” that could endanger the public order or cause damage to the interest of the state, shall be made liable under this article in relation to Section 6 of RA 10175 or Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012.
Playing with money as a “social experiment”
In a statement, PB Gen. Joel Doria, acting director of the PNP’s Anti-Cybercrime Group, said that their cyber patrol unit found Facebook and TikTok videos of Ousta tearing a twenty peso bill in half and asking passersby for help in fixing the torn bill. The influencer claims that the act is part of a social experiment.
“Let this serve as a warning to all media influencers or vloggers to be mindful of the content they post on social media. Having numerous followers and viewers does not guarantee that they are free to violate any laws of the land,” Doria said.
According to PNP-ACG, Rogero posted a video where he is seen stapling several banknotes as part of a basketball fun-shoot game. Quion recorded a video of himself putting a hole into a one-thousand-peso bill as part of his magic trick.
Eramel, meanwhile, posted Facebook and Tiktok videos of himself using a five-hundred-peso bill to wipe off the dirt from his shoes and then crumpling each bill before throwing it on the ground. Mallanao, for his part, was seen defacing a fifty peso bill and using it as a funnel to transfer petroleum products from one container to another.
Folded polymer banknotes still valid for payment, says BSP
In a related development, the BSP clarified that folded polymer banknotes can still be circulated and used for payment. The announcement came amid posts on social media about some business establishments refusing to accept crumpled notes.
“The BSP informs the public that folded banknotes, whether paper or polymer, can still be circulated and accepted for payment. Retailers and banks should accept them for day-to-day payment transactions,” the statement read.
The Philippine central bank has since issued guidelines on how the public could best take care of newly-issued P1,000 bills in a bid to “safeguard their integrity and prolong their lifespan.” It advised the public to use a bi-fold wallet, which it said is the most ideal way of storing bank notes.
The new P1,000 bill used polymer as paper and featured the Philippine eagle, the country’s national bird.
The BSP also took an information campaign to defend its decision to transition from abaca-based paper money to polymer, saying that the latter is “more durable and therefore, more cost-effective compared to paper banknotes.”