Because you need to take a bus to go to work. Buses have machines that only accept coins. If you don't have coins, you can't go to work. This is mostly an issue

Because you need to take a bus to go to work. Buses have machines that only accept coins. If you don't have coins, you can't go to work. This is mostly an issue with one-peso coins, as the bus costs 90c. It's extremely stupid, and also self-fulfilling. Small businesses are afraid of running out of coins so they hoard them. It's really not that big of a deal if you don't take the bus (I either walk or drive depending on the distance). A couple of times in the past year I did have to stand in line at the bank to get change for laundry.