Foreign printer faces probe over ‘Arrovo’ bills

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said yesterday it will conduct an investigation into the misprinted P100 bills to determine whether the offshore security printing company could face either legal or financial liabilities or both.

The BSP announced last Sunday that it has received a batch of P100 notes bearing the president’s misspelled surname of "Arrovo" instead of Arroyo.

The BSP assured the public, however, that the misspelled batch of P100 notes were still considered legal tender and should be accepted as genuine currency.

BSP Deputy Governor Armando L. Suratos told reporters yesterday that the BSP has formed an internal group to investigate the error although he confirmed that the error occurred at the printing facility in France.

Suratos said the BSP wants to determine if the security printing company is liable for the error, including the possibility of reimbursing the cost of the contract.

Suratos explained that the BSP occasionally outsources part of the printing volume of the country’s legal tender, especially during the holiday season when the volume requirement is too large for the BSP printing plant to handle.

The BSP has a roster of accredited subcontractors and sends the master copy to the printing facility.

Suratos said the master was sent to France, but the printing company "wanted to enhance the font" and retyped the proof which was then used for printing the banknotes.

In retyping the text, Suratos said the printing contractor misspelled "Arroyo" into "Arrovo" and ran the batch which was then sent to the BSP for release.

"A small number has been released but we are holding on to the rest of the batch," Suratos said, adding that the BSP has apologized to the president for the error.

The BSP has refused to name the printing facility that committed the error or to confirm the size of the batch of P100 notes that have been released before the error was caught.

The misspelled notes are expected to spur a flurry among collectors.