A year of quiet discipline vanished almost overnight for a Filipino worker who thought he had done everything right by setting aside small savings, only to watch them literally eaten away.
Cirilo Bitang had been tucking away ₱500 bills whenever he could, slowly building a modest nest egg that eventually reached ₱25,000. To keep it safe, he placed the cash inside a wooden coin box and stored it in a locker at home, assuming the simple setup was secure enough for short-term savings. For months, it was.
The shock came just weeks before Christmas. After checking the money in late November and finding it intact, Bitang opened the box again on December 19 and found most of the bills shredded beyond recognition.
Termites had infested the room’s divider and spread to the wooden container, leaving behind fragments of paper where crisp banknotes once sat. Out of the entire amount, only a single ₱500 polymer bill survived.
Bitang later shared a video of the damage online, which caught public attention after being featured on 24 Oras. The clip resonated with many Filipinos who keep cash at home, especially those without access to formal banking or who rely on physical savings for emergencies.
The incident has reignited a familiar but often ignored reminder: where and how money is stored matters just as much as the discipline of saving itself. Unlike polymer notes, most Philippine peso bills are still paper-based, making them vulnerable not only to fire and floods but also to pests.
For those facing similar losses, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said mutilated banknotes may still be exchanged, depending on the extent of the damage and whether key security features remain identifiable. Severely destroyed bills, however, may no longer qualify for replacement.
Bitang’s experience serves as a costly lesson in an economy where every peso counts. Saving is an achievement in itself, but safeguarding those savings—whether through banks, digital wallets, or more secure storage—can mean the difference between progress and heartbreak.
