Forget the polymers. What about the papers?

There has been a lot of effort in media by monetary authorities to draw attention to the new polymer banknotes issued by the Philippines. Prior to its debut last April, a lot of press releases were made about the new notes, all describing their aesthetic, security, and durability characteristics. Following their initial and limited rollout, there followed numerous dos and don'ts, mostly based on initial public reactions.

As the rollout was limited, not a single piece of the new plastic bill has managed to reach and tease my fingers with its feel. I would not be ignorant of its looks, though, as pictures of the new notes are always splashed alongside the press releases. As the dos and don'ts have reached most people ahead of the actual notes, I will no longer reprint any of these instructions.

But let me say this: That government has to go to inordinate lengths to advise the public on the proper handling of the notes is the clearest evidence of its reflection of us as a people. That means we have to be told or reminded, repeatedly if I may add, that it is our civic duty as citizens of this country to handle our legal tender properly and with respect.

Money, to a certain extent, also serves as the alternate face of a country, perhaps next to the flag. And to a certain extent, at least aesthetically, the design and colors of Philippine money is, to my uncomplicated eyes, very superb. We have, I think, one of the most beautiful monies in the world. At least in this one small area of global competitiveness we are tops and I am extremely proud to be Filipino.

But this nationalistic pride of mine can be very short-lived. And it can be very specific, limited only to the new, crisp, and clean banknotes. Short-lived because our bills do not remain new, crisp and clean banknotes forever, especially after passing through mostly Filipino hands. In a snap they become the oldest, most crumpled, and filthiest banknotes on earth.

At the risk of being called unpatriotic let me say that, by comparison, I have never encountered money as old, messed up, and filthy as the ones we have in any of the countries I have had the chance to visit. I am not really sure, but this has got me into thinking that maybe other countries retrieve and destroy ugly bills such as I have described and then replace them with new ones. As a matter of their national pride.

I do not think we share that same regard toward our money. Have you ever noticed our ?20 bills? Chances are 90% of the ?20 bills in circulation are old, messed up, and filthy. In fact they are so filthy that ever since I've been carrying a hand-sanitizer around because of the pandemic, I always sanitize after coming into contact with a "baynte" which I have come to regard as a COVID-19 spreader.

I do not know why it is the ?20 bill that is the filthiest paper bill in the Philippine currency. Maybe it is because it is the smallest-denominated paper currency and thus passes the most through the most number of common hands. The "baynte" does not habituate the board rooms of corporate towers or the mansions of gated communities. They pass from fish vendor to tricycle driver to Swertres bettor.

If common hands are the reason for the rapid deterioration of paper bills, and knowing common hands are so many they outnumber the manicured probably 10 to 1, then maybe this is what exasperates monetary authorities from constantly doing what other countries do and just let the bills, especially the "baynte", wither away of its own accord, to become dust, or eaten away by microbes. No dos and don'ts sa "baynte".