A mother attempted to purchase mineral water and biscuits for her "extremely thirsty" child, but stores refused to accept her folded P1,000 bill.
Irene Shin Torrejos complained on Facebook on Thursday, February 2, about several stores near the city's regional hospital that refused to accept the folded P1,000 polymer banknote as payment for her purchase.
She claims that the stores rejected her money for a variety of reasons, including a lack of change and some even demanding other types of bills, but she has none.
In community stores or eateries, a bottle of mineral water and a biscuit would cost around P40. Netizens reacted by saying that a P1,000 payment is excessive for such a purchase.
As of Saturday, February 4, Torrejos' post had received thousands of reactions, comments, and shares on social media.
Previously, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) warned the public that "willfully causing multiple random folds across the entire banknote that toughly affect its visual appearance" is one of the prohibited acts of legal tender defacement and/or mutilation.
The BSP, on the other hand, stated in an advisory that folding the P1,000 polymer banknote is acceptable but "not excessively" as it "could leave permanent fold marks."
Willful defacement, mutilation, tearing, burning, or destruction of Philippine banknotes and coins is punishable by a fine of up to PHP 20,000 and/or imprisonment for up to five years under Presidential Decree No. 247.