‘Arrovo’ P100- bill printer escapes being blacklisted

The French company that misprinted the name of President Arroyo on P100 bills last year will not be disqualified from bidding for future printing contracts for negotiable instruments of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).

The BSP said yesterday that the company can still qualify for future bidding contracts although there is no requirement at present to outsource the printing of local currencies.

According to a BSP source, the French company can still participate in future bids, indicating that it has not been permanently barred since the error was not intentional.

"Right now we’re printing all our requirements at the BSP security printing plant in Quezon City," the official said.

Late last year, the BSP conducted an investigation into the misprinted P100 banknotes to determine whether the French security printing company was liable for damages. The error occurred at the company’s printing facility in France.

The investigation followed the BSP’s announcement that it received a batch of P100 notes bearing the President’s misspelled surname of "Arrovo" instead of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

The BSP assured the public, however, that the misspelled batch of P100 notes were still considered legal tender.

The BSP explained that it occasionally outsources part of its printing requirement for paper money, 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 the BSP sends the master copy to the printing facility.

At that time, BSP Deputy Governor Armando 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 the retyping of 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 the BSP has apologized to the President for the error.

However, the BSP has refused to name the French printing firm that committed the error.