Currency

The primary currency denomination in the Philippines is the "Peso". It's often referred to as "PhP" for Philippine Peso, as opposed to the Peso of other nations, such as Mexico. Within the Philippines, though, it's usually notated simply as "P", with the P following the number, as in 10P for 10 Pesos. Bank notes are issued in denominations of 10, 20, 50, 100, 500, and 1000 Pesos. In the Philippines, Peso is spelled Piso.

There is also a smaller denomination, called a "Centavo" or, sometimes, "Sentimo." There are one hundred Centavos (Sentimos) in a Peso.

Coins are issued in both Centavos and Pesos. The coins are 5, 10, and 25 Centavos, as well as 1 and 5 Pesos. Centavo is abbreviated merely as "c", so that 5c indicates 5 Centavos. "Sentimo" is another name for Centavo.

Pesos in Tagalog

1 Peso = piso 2 Pesos = dalawang piso 10 Pesos = sampung piso 20 Pesos = dalawampung piso 50 Pesos = limampung piso 100 Pesos = isang daang piso 500 Pesos = limang daang piso

In 2002, the exchange rate made the U.S. dollar equal to roughly 50 Pesos. Thus, Americans might think of a 50 Peso note as a one-dollar bill, and a 500 Peso note as a ten-dollar bill.

A few samples of Philippine bank notes can be found to the right.

All original materials on this website (www.asawa.org, www.filipinawives.com) are copyrighted by the author, Bob Lingerfelt, 1997 -2007  with materials on file at the U.S. Copyright Office.  No reproduction is authorized, in any form, without express permission of the author.