Philippines Stamps

Philippine postage history can be divided into 6 periods: the Spanish period, the Revolutionary period, the US Administration period, the Commonwealth period, the Japanese Occupation period and the Republic period. The Republic period begins in 1946 and continues up to the present day.

The issuance of stamps during the first 25 years of the Republic period was dominated by postage issues on Philippine nationalism. Stamps on heroes, historical events, coat of arms, famous Filipinos, presidents and the like were issued in abundance from the 1940's up to the early 1970's. Along the way, a number of topical stamps were issued. The issues were few and far between. Some of these stamps were the first topical stamps of the Republic period.

The first "bicycle stamp" of the Republic period was issued on December 22, 1947. It was a special delivery stamp with a perforation of 12 and a denomination of 20 centavos. The first "flower stamp" was issued on December 8, 1948. It had a perforation of 12 1/2 and a denomination of 3 centavos. The featured flower was the sampaguita and the title of the issue was "Flower Day, Sampaguita."

The first "horse stamp" of the Republic period was issued on December 2, 1949. The issue was a set of 2 stamps and the stamps' design featured Gregorio del Pilar riding on a horse. The set was issued to commemorate the 50th death anniversary of Gen. del Pilar and fifty-two of his men at Tirad Pass. It had a perforation of 12 and two denominations: 2 centavos and 4 centavos. The first "fish stamp" was issued on October 23, 1952. The issue was a set of 2 stamps with a perforation of 12 1/2 and two denominations: 5 centavos and 6 centavos. The featured fish was the milkfish or "bangus" as it was (and still is) known locally.

The first "basketball stamp" was issued in 1934 while the first "basketball stamp" of the Republic period was issued on November 30, 1960. The stamp was part of a set of 4 stamps that was issued to publicize the 17th olympic games. The stamp had a perforation of 13 by 13 1/2 and a denomination of 6 centavos.

The first "orchid stamp" of the Republic period was issued on March 9, 1962. The set consisted of 4 se-tenant stamps and 4 imperforate stamps in block format. The se-tenant block was the first of its kind in Philippine postage history, and it was one of the earliest and most beautiful se-tenant issues in modern postage history. The stamp had a perforation of 13 1/2 by 14 and four denominations: 5 centavos, 6 centavos, 10 centavos and 20 centavos.

The first "Philippine eagle stamp" of the Republic period was issued on August 19, 1967. The stamp was part of a set of 4 anti-TB semi-postal stamps on birds. During the 1960's, the Philippine eagle was called the monkey-eating eagle, and this was the name which was printed on the stamp. The stamp had a perforation of 13 1/2 and a denomination of 5 centavos plus 5 centavos. The first "christmas stamp" was issued on December 1, 1967. The issue was a set of 2 stamps with a perforation of 13 1/4 and two denominations: 10 centavos and 40 centavos. The most outstanding feature of the set was the stamps' design which depicted the Holy Family within a Filipino cultural setting.

On April 1, 1949, a semi-postal set of 3 stamps was released by the post office. One of the stamps had a stylized design of birds in the background. Strictly speaking, this was the first "bird stamp" of the Republic period since it contained a bird design. However, the design was quite small and seemed insignificant. If this is the case, then one can claim that the first "bird stamp" of the Republic period appeared on the Baguio Conference issue of 1950. The postal issue consisted of 3 stamps with the following denominations: 5 centavos, 6 centavos and 18 centavos. The featured bird was the dove. In 1967, a set of 4 stamps on birds was issued and it was an anti-TB semi-postal issue. It was on this issue that the first "eagle stamp" appeared. The eagle was the Philippine eagle which was known then as the monkey-eating eagle.

The first "airplane stamp" came out with the release of the Centenary of Philippine Postage Stamps issue of 1954. The set consisted of 6 multicolored stamps with the same design. Three of the stamps were commemorative stamps while the other three were air post stamps. The airplane, which looked like a passenger airplane, was placed just below the upper right hand corner of the stamps.

In 1955, the first "seacraft stamp" was issued. The seacraft --- a moro vinta --- appeared on the stamps which were issued to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of Rotary International. The issue was composed of 3 multicolored stamps. Two of the stamps were commemorative stamps while the other one was an air post stamp. The stamps' design was a lake scenery with Mayon Volcano serving as a background. This was quite unique. The moro vinta was (and still is) associated with places found in the southern part of the Philippines. Mayon Volcano is located in the Bicol area which is a region found in the northeastern part of the Philippines.

Once again, it was in 1954 when one of the first topical stamps of the Republic period appeared. This was the Second Asian Games issue and it was composed of 3 stamps. It was the first "sports stamps" with a perforation of 13 and three denominations: 5 centavos, 6 centavos and 18 centavos. In 1960, the first "olympic stamps" came out with the release of the olympic issue. The issue consisted of 4 stamps and each stamp had its own design of a particular sporting event in the olympics. It was in this set that the first "basketball stamp" appeared.

During the 1960s, a number of outstanding issues of topical stamps were released. These issues included the orchid set of 1962, the olympic set of 1964, the cycling set of 1965, the musical instruments set of 1968 and the butterflies set of 1969. From the 1970's up to the present, a lot of topical stamps issues have been released.

- Mrs. Nagalakshmi Tadakaluri, Philatelist.

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