There must be some relation to the recent elections and the circulation of fake bills in the province.
This question surfaced after six banks based in Tagbilaran City reported that its tellers received counterfeit bills in the days following the May 14 elections. The banks said the fake bills were in P1,000, P500 and P200 currencies. Among the six banks, the Development Bank of the Philippines received the most number of fake bills with nine P1,000 and four P500 bills. Allied Bank meanwhile said it was victimized by four fake P1,000 and two P200 bills. According to reports, the bank noted that the fake bills had identical serial numbers.
The other banks that reported receiving fake bills during the period were City Savings Bank, Land Bank of the Philippines, Cooperative Bank of Bohol and the Philippine National Bank. The total amount of the bogus bills that were deposited in the six banks was placed at P19,000.
On Thursday, an investigator from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas identified as Andres Catanghal arrived in Bohol to investigate the incident and to probe the presence of the laboratory responsible for the bogus bills. The official's arrival was in response to the call made by the concerned banks requesting assistance to deal with the circulation of the fake bills. As this developed, the Bohol Bankers Association issued a call to traders and the public to beware of the proliferation of fake bills. There had been allegations of the use of fake bills particularly during vote-buying activities in the previous elections. Despite the complaints, no formal charges were filed since the politicians either were afraid to be traced to the prohibited activity or did not want to face ridicule.
