Sipalay City honors lensman of Phl eagle in P1,000 bill

The City Government of Sipalay in southern Negros Occidental has paid tribute to its very own Floyd Pison Bermejo, the wildlife photographer who captured the image of the Philippine Eagle featured in the new 1,000-peso banknote.

Pison grew up in the mining village of San Jose and is the son of an employee in the mines.

“He started bird-hunting with his father in the mountains of the city for food. Now, he does bird-hunting with a different weapon, a camera,” the city government said in a statement.

Aside from being a wildlife photographer, Bermejo is also a licensed pilot and a conservationist.

Bermejo said he wants to show the importance of protecting wildlife, adding that through his photos, he hopes people will have awareness of what is happening and help save the endangered creatures.

He took the iconic image at the Philippine Eagle Center in Davao City in 2017.

Last year, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas requested the use of his photo and he allowed it to be used for free for the commemorative banknote released in April this year.

The image of the Philippine Eagle took the place of the pictures of heroes Jose Abad Santos, Vicente Lim, and Josefa Llanes Escoda on the 1,000-peso bill’s obverse side.

The Philippine Eagle replaced the Maya as the national bird through Proclamation No. 615 signed by former President Fidel V. Ramos in 1995.* (Nanette Guadalquiver)