BSP Batac is PRAISE awardee for 2015 anew

By Dominic B. dela Cruz

Staff reporter

Batac City – The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) office in this city recently was given the Program for Recognition and Award Incentives for Service Excellence (PRAISE) award. The award was officially handed during the BSP Anniversary and awarding ceremony held July 22, 2016.

BSP Batac branch headed by Buenafe F. Alinio said the award recognizes men and women of the BSP and has various categories: Model Employee Award; Best Performing Department/Office Award; Best Performing Regional Office/Branch Award; Gawad Gantimpala Suggestion Award; Perfect Attendance Award; and Academic Achievement Award.

Of the eight BSP branches BSP in Luzon, Ms. Alinio said the BSP Batac Branch was adjudged as Best Performing Branch for CY 2015 followed by the branches in the cities of San Fernando and Cabanatuan. This means that Batac Branch got the highest scores in terms of performance (60 points), human resource (35 points) and corporate social responsibility (CSR) 5 points.

Under the CSR, Ms. Alinio explained that BSP Batac Branch launched the first ever Adopt-a-Scholar Project and presently have two scholars studying at MMSU and funding comes from the employees pocket contributions.

She also mentioned that 17 BSP Batac employees were also recognized for their perfect attendance and punctuality for the whole 2015.

Marlon Aningat, who finished his Masters in Public Administration at the University of Northern Philippines in Vigan City last year in his own time and expense was also given the Academic Achievement Award.   

On top of all these, Ms. Alinio stated further that their Batac office also received the Gawad Gantimpala, a recognition of her extraordinary display of excellence in her job as branch head.

The Ilocos Times learned that prior to the said awards, BSP Batac was also named the Best Performing Branch in 2013. In 2014, however, the said BSP branch only became a finalist.

Currently, BSP Batac established economic and financial learning centers to serve as public information centers for schools as well as libraries in Ilocos Norte and Ilocos Sur. The said centers would also inform the public about BSP and its contributions to the economy

Coins

Meanwhile, Ms. Alinio also urged the public to give importance to coins. She said that people nowadays somewhat ignore them, especially children.

She disclosed that it is more expensive to produce coins that the paper money. She added that BSP has been campaigning in the last three years for people to give more value and importance to coins in circulation.

She said that as per their records, there are still sufficient coins in circulation but they are all wondering where they are going as there seems to be always shortages of coins in retail establishments.

She disclosed that BSP recently launched a coin recirculating project dubbed “Barya Mo, Computer Ko.” They were able to generate 169,000 pieces of coins ranging from 5 to 25 centavos in this city in partnership with the Dept. of Education office here. She added that their partnership with DepEd in Candon yielded 176,000 pieces of coins.

To maintain the momentum, she appealed to the public to recirculate the small-denomination coins.

New Design Series

Ms. Alinio also announced that the New Design Series (NDS) or the old type of paper money will only be changed at banks or any BSP branches until December 31, 2016. After this date, the NDS money will no longer be honored.

She explained that from January 1, 2017 the New Generation Currency (NGC) would only be in circulation.

She also said the P100 peso bill has been redesigned to add more violet color. The P100 and P1000 peso bills are often mistaken for one another by the public owing to their close color hues. The P1000 bill is blue but the P100 bill violet color is closer to blue, hence the mistake.

Fakes

Ms. Alinio also warned the public about fake money.

“Meron pa namang paisa-isa na dala ng mga bangko for evaluation”, Ms. Alinio said on fake monies that are circulating.

She explained that captured fake monies are forwarded to the BSP Currency Issue and Integrity Office in Manila for evaluation and final confirmation.

Proposed expansion

The BSP Batac branch head also disclosed that the Monetary Board has instructed the possible relocation of their office to Vigan City in Ilocos Sur. She said the primary reason for the possible transfer is Vigan’s “booming economy.”

She said the BSP Batac has smaller coverage compared to other BSP branches. Coverage means number of banks being served.

She added that ideally, a branch office should also cover 5,000 square meters. The BSP office in Batac currently occupies 2,200 square meters. The said lot being occupied was earlier donated by the Batac government.

Ms. Alinio said she referred this matter to former Batac mayor, now vice mayor, Jeffrey Jubal Nalupta. She said the BSP plans to acquire additional lot for their expansion but Mr. Nalupta disapproved the plan. She said the former mayor explained that other lots in the government center has been tabbed for future use by other agencies.

Ms. Alinio also pointed out that BSP will not want to lease or even be given a contract of usufruct; she said they want to buy lots for their use.

She however clarified that it is still a proposal and there is no final decision on the transfer yet. If a transfer would push through, she said a downgraded BSP office will remain in Batac. The downgraded office will become a cash center for the area.