abs-cbnNEWS.com

Posted at 12/20/2010 7:01 PM | Updated as of 12/20/2010 7:01 PM

MANILA, Philippines - Wild Birds Club founding member and geographer Jonathan Villasper urged the central bank on Monday to either redesign or revise its new peso bills.

Villasper said the blue-naped parrot in P500 bill has yellow beak instead of red. Its tail should also be longer. Blue-naped parrots are found all over the Philippines and not just in Palawan.Villasper said the parrot in the bill resembles the Guaiabero parrot or the Bolbopsittacus lunulatus. Batanes is not included in the maps of all the new bills, while the Tubbataha Reef in the P1,000 bill is out of position by almost 400 kilometers, Villasper added.

The maps also mislocated Palawan’s Saint Paul’s subterranean river that has been designated a UNESCO world heritage site. Scientific names of animals are likewise not in proper format. Villasper is geographer and taught digital cartography at the University of the Philippines. He said it only takes a few minutes to verify information on the new peso bills.

He added that the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas should have consulted experts on the subject before approving the release of the new bills. – Sheryll Mundo, ABS-CBN News