by Jun Mendoza

Lucena City (5 October) -- Desiring to used the coins for a worthwhile cause, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has embarked a follow-up program on "Tulong Barya para sa Eskwela". It also aim to recirculate the coins in the market and other business transactions which they've started last July 3,2006 and will end on December 2006.

In a simple ceremony held at the Lucena West I Elementary School in this city last Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2006, BSP Manila Acting Manager Arnel Salva said that one of their problem is the non-circulation of the coins as many have prefer to hide or save it, with some just throwing it especially if it is a ten or five centavo coin denominations.

Mr. Salva says that about 11.1 billion peso amount of coin denominations are in circulation when BSP started disposing new minted coins in December 2005. Under their program "National Coin Recirculation", the coins will be used to help other government agencies such as the DEPED which is a direct benificiaries of their program.

BSP Lucena Manager Rogel Joseph del Rosario meanwhile remarked that the ceremony is a "follow-up program" to inform the public on the updates of the project.

He said the DEPED will give prizes to schools which will have the largest volume of collected coins of 25, 10, 5 and one centavo coins.

The collected coins will be deposited in a trust fund by the DepEd before it can be use for various projects of a beneficiary school.

BSP Deputy Director for Corporate Affairs Frances Arrespacochaga however said that schoolchildren need not to deduct their "baons" by contributing their coins to dropboxes because they don't need them lessen their provisions and expenses.