Mayor Junard Chan on Wednesday cited the new PHP5,000 commemorative banknote and medal, featuring Lapulapu.

The new PHP5,000 bill is the country’s highest denomination so far.

Chan presented to the media the commemorative banknote which showed a serial number LL000291.

The issuance of the banknote is part of the 2021 Quincentennial Commemorations of the victory in Mactan Island.

Chan said he and his wife Cindi attended the launching of the PHP5000 commemorative bill and silver commemorative medal in a ceremony at the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas on Monday. Cindi is the chair of the city’s Tourism, Cultural and Historical Affairs Commission.

“This is to inform the public and our consumers that if in case you receive this new bill, you won’t have doubts on receiving it,” the mayor said in Cebuano, stressing that the new bill is expected to be available to the public but is not intended for circulation.

The city of takes pride having well-known Filipino hero Lapulapu on the new bill, he said.

The mayor recalled that Lapulapu’s face only used to appear on one centavo coin during the 1970s.

Chan cited Lapulapu’s heroism being the first to fight against Spanish invaders led by Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan.

The new banknote features the portrait of a young Lapulapu to make it consistent in the enhanced New Generation Currency banknotes.

The commemorative banknote’s front side includes an image of the battle of Mactan, the logo of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) and 2021 Quincentennial Commemorations (QCP) in the Philippines, and the Karaoka or the large outrigger warships used by indigenous Filipino communities.

The back side of the note depicts the Manaol or the Philippine eagle, a symbol of “clear vision, freedom, and strength; and which embodies the ancient Visayan belief that all living creatures originated from an eagle,” the central bank said.

Other historical details in the reverse side include the tree of a coconut — the food the people of Samar gave to Ferdinand Magellan and his crew — and Mount Apo, where the circumnavigators found directional clues to their intended destination of Maluku or the Spice Island.

Meanwhile, the commemorative medal features an image of Lapu-Lapu Shrine in Cebu and the logos of BSP and QCP while the reverse side shows a rendition of the Battle of Mactan and the date “27 April 1521.” (PNA)