In compliance with international conventions against money-laundering, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has regulations on the amount of currency that a traveller can carry into or out of the Philippines. The regulations are compiled in the Manual of Regulations on Foreign Exchange Transactions (FX Manual) issued by the Bangko Sentral.

Philippine Peso

A person may bring into (import) or take out of (export) the Philippines, either physically or by electronical transfer, legal tender Philippine currency of an amount not exceeding PHP 50,000 (fifty thousand pesos, Philippine currency) without prior authorization from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.  The monetary forms include legal tender Philippine notes and coins, checks, money order and other bills of exchange drawn in Philippine Pesos against banks operating in the Philippines.

The term “electronic transfer” as used above shall mean a system where the authority to debit or credit an account (bank, business or individual) is provided by wire, with or without a source document being mailed to evidence the authority.

The increase to PHP 50,000 in the allowable amount of Philippine currency brought in or out of the Philippines took effect on 15 September 2016, per Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Circular No. 922, series of 2016, dated 23 August 2016, titled “The Amendments of the Rules on Cross-Border Transfer of Local Currency”.

Any excess amount not covered by specific written BSP authorization is subject to confiscation by the Philippine Bureau of Customs.

Foreign Currency

A person may carry up to the amount of USD 10,000 (or equivalent in any other foreign currency), in cash or other monetary instruments, into and out of the Philippines. Other monetary instruments include travellers’ checks, other checks, drafts, notes, money orders, bonds, deposit certificates, securities, commercial papers, trust certificates, custodial receipts, deposit substitute instruments, trading orders, transaction tickets and confirmation of sale/investment.

If a person wishes to bring more that the equivalent of USD 10,000, a written declaration must be made in the form of the BSP’s “Foreign Currency and Other FX-Denominated Bearer Monetary Instruments Declaration Form” which may be downloaded from https://www.bsp.gov.ph/SitePages/Regulations/GuideToFx.aspx?TabId=3.

Manual of Regulations on Foreign Exchange Transactions

A copy of the Manual of Regulations on Foreign Exchange Transactions may be downloaded here or accessed via the BSP website: https://www.bsp.gov.ph/Regulations/MORFXT/MORFXT.pdf.