Sunday Philatelist

The turning point in my philatelic education was the newspaper column Sunday Philatelist by Mandy Labayen, published in the now defunct Philippine Sunday Express, the Sunday edition of Philippine Daily Express.

Because of Sunday Philatelist, I began to learn about stamp collecting, which eventually opened wide the world of philatelic knowledge to me.

If I recall correctly, this column lasted from November 1980 to late 1982 (or was it early 1983?) before the paper ceased publication. I saved the clippings (probably complete as my family used to subscribe to this newspaper) but I had to leave these to the Davao Stamp Collectors when I moved out of Davao City in 1985. (Except for four clippings which I have kept all through these years.)

And if I recall rightly, too, Mandy Labayen would later write a stamp column for Manila Times in the mid-1980s  titled The Stamp Album. He died in 2006 at the age of 65.

Also writing for the Manila Times was the late Frank Luto; his column was called The Philatelist, which he continued for The Philippine Star.

Birds

Here's a checklist of birds on Philippine stamps --

http://www.birdtheme.org/country/philipp.html

Have fun!

Philpex '85

Shown is the souvenir program for Philpex '85, a competitive stamp exhibition in 1985 organized by the International Philippine Philatelic Society.

The show was held at the Manila Hotel from November 24 to 27. Listed were 16 exhibitors and 19 bourse tables.

Exhibits in the Philippine category were as follows:

"US Military Posts 1898-1905" by Stanley C. Chan
"Philippine Postage Due" by Emmanuel N. Encarnacion
"OBs The Early Years" by Ray L. Coughlin
"Philippines, 1982 Issues" by Ngo Tiong Tak
"His Excellency President Ferdinand E. Marcos Founder of the
                                      New Society" by Antonio Z. Mendoza
"Philippines 1942-1945 First Day Covers" by Roberto V. Araos
"Philippines, Japanese Occupation" by David A. McMurtrie

Officers of the IPPS for 1984-85 were Gustavo Ingles (president, Philippine Operations), Eugene A. Garrett (president, Foreign Operations), Emmanuel Encarnacion (vice president), Mario Que (treasurer), and Linda Stanfield (secretary).

In the Presidents' Message it was noted that "Last year saw a reorganization in the IPPS, which included the formation of two presidential posts, one for local and one for foreign operations."

A feature article in this souvenir program is titled "Foreign Airmail Route No. 14 (FAM 14)".

It was during this event that I got to meet Gene Garrett (1920-1996) for the first and only time.

The Clipper

The Philippine Philatelic Auction Clipper was published by the Philippine Philatelic Auction Club.

It was a mimeographed newsletter with Volume 1 Number 1 dated April-June 1982.

In this 8-page newsletter, POSTPEX '82 was announced for Postage Stamp Day with several committees formed "to spearhead the celebration" which also is the 5th PPAC Foundation Day (October 9).

An interesting column is "PPAC Lingo" used in the PPAC world. Listed were the following terms:

Auctionites -- members of the club
Gone -- "a favorite term of Boy Inductivo"
Marcos Shouting -- stamp set issued for 75th anniversary of                                             Philippine Independence                  
Mommy -- for Ms. Naty Lozano
Philperf --short for Philippine Perforation
The Clipper -- the paper itself

Felifranco R. Luto was editor and writer.

a Yahoo Group

On August 27, 2004, a Yahoo Group called Philatelic Philippines was born.

I created this group in Cagayan de Oro City

"for Philippine philately -- stories, news reports, discussions, announcements, invitations, etc.

"Topics for discussion include:

"Philippine stamps and postal history
"Philippine stamp clubs and philatelic activities
"Stamp collecting in the Philippines"

Membership was open but those who posted messages unrelated to Philippine philately were removed from the list. There were more than 130 members.

A total of 1,071 messages dealt on, among others, stamp design contests, philatelic websites and books, bogus issues, stamp exhibits, stamp clubs, new issues, foreign stamps relating to the Philippines, stamp design errors, cinderellas, stamp exchanges, stamp dealers, stamp prices, covers and postal history, FDC cachets, stamp stores, and stamp identification.

The group was closed in 2014 and got deleted in 2015.

Picture shown here is that of the cover photo for this group, a photograph of a philatelic exhibit mounted by Philpost-10 in Cagayan de Oro.

blast from the past 10

A "Stamp, Coin and Paper Money Exhibit" held at the Davao Christian High School in 2011 --


http://dchs.edu.ph/index.php/news/release/83

"The exhibit, sponsored by the Philatelists and Numismatists Club, featured the collections of Mr. Rene A. Adapon and was held in commemoration of our national hero, Dr. Jose Rizal’s 150th birth anniversary," said the report.

More extracts from the article:

"Mr. Rene Adapon is a philatelist and a numismatist. He is a member of various coin, stamp, and paper money associations such as: Cebu Stamp Club, American Philatelist Association, America Numismatist Association, Bank Note Society of the Philippines, and Paper Money Collectors of America. Mr. Adapon started with his collection when he was still a Grade 5 pupil collecting stamps. He then moved to coins, and then paper money. He has been a collector for forty years now.

"When asked why he decided to have this kind of collection, Mr. Adapon answered; 'If you collect stamps, it’s like you’re traveling from all over the world, from A to Z'."

military postal stations

"U.S. Military Postal Stations in the Philippines (1898-1904)" by Geo. S. Goodale is a chapter in the book titled Cyclopedia of United States Postmarks and Postal History edited by Delf Norona.

Copyright year is 1975.

This hardbound book is illustrated in black and white.

Bought my copy by mail in the 1990s from a US bookseller.

Mama Sita

New Issue alert:

Mama Sita

August 24, 2015The Mama Sita Stamps and Official First Day Covers will be available starting August 24, 2015 at the Post Shop, Philately and Museum Division, Manila Central Post Office, Door 203, Liwasang Bonifacio, Manila and at all Regional Offices of the Philippine Postal Corporation.

Ngo's catalogs

"1997 Ngo's Catalogue of Philippine Republic Stamps & Postal
                                     Stationeries"
"Ngo's Catalogue of Philippine Republic Stamps 1998 Supplement"
"Ngo's Catalogue of Philippine Republic Stamps 1999 Supplement"
"Ngo's Catalogue of Philippine Republic Stamps 2000 Supplement"
"Ngo's Catalogue of Philippine Republic Stamps 2002 Supplement"
"Specialized Catalogue of Philippine Republic Stamps 1973-1989"

All by Dr. Ngo Tiong Tak.
Published by The Stamp Shop (except the Specialized).

These catalogs are issued in full color.
Prices are in Philippine pesos (except the Specialized which is in US dollars).

Bought my copies at various times in Manila.

Philippine postal catalogue

Philippine Postal Catalogue Republic Period 1946-1990 by Abraham Q. Luspo, Jr. is published by David G. Chiong.

The scope includes stamps and postal stationery listed in chronological order.

It is illustrated in full color and gives the names of the printers, perforation gauge, watermarks and quantities printed, among other details. All denominations of a set are illustrated even if these are of a common design type.

This is a priced catalog in US dollars.

Bought my copy in the 1990s from National Bookstore.

postal stationery

An official publication of The United Postal Stationery Society is The Postal Stationery of the Philippines United States Administration 1898-1946  (note the doubling of "OF" in the cover title).

Copyright year is 1983.

A note states that "Much of the update information in this catalog was compiled by Eugene A. Garrett during the years 1977-78." Gene is, of course, well known in Philippine philately.

It has information on knives, envelope and card stock, weathering, shades of ink, quantities, and corner cards, among others.

The contents include envelopes, wrappers, postal cards and reply cards.

Comes with a supplement for prices.

Bought my copy in the 1990s by mail from a US dealer.

blast from the past 9

A golf tourney for the postal museum --

http://balita.ph/2009/08/18/golf-postmasters-cup-tees-off-wednesday/

Have fun!

Asean special stamps

PRESS RELEASE: PHLPost leads presentation of joint ASEAN community special stamps

August 20, 2015

The Philippine Postal Corporation (PHLPost) led the presentation of the joint ASEAN commemorative stamps and opening of exhibit last August 18 to welcome the “ASEAN Economic Community” and celebrate the 48th founding anniversary of the Association of Southeast Asian Nation (ASEAN) at the SM Aura Premier Atrium Event Center in Taguig City.

Ambassadors from ASEAN member countries like Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, representatives from the Philippines’ Department of Foreign Affairs and Finance graced the occasion to unveil the ASEAN commemorative stamps.

“The Philippine Postal Corporation (PHLPost) welcomes the joint issuance of the ASEAN community special stamps as our way of promoting unity and prosperity, speaking with one voice to the rest of the world”, Postmaster General Josie Dela Cruz said.

The entry from the Socialist Republic of Vietnam recently won the first prize for both categories in ASEAN Stamp Design Contest participated in by the 10 member countries.

The stamp winner was awarded US$ 1,000 while the postmark winner received US$ 500. Their designs were produced as the stamp and postmark for all the ASEAN countries to reflect the unity of the ASEAN Community according to the motto of the ASEAN, "One Vision, One Identity, One Community".

The winning postage stamps and postmark designs convey the idea of ASEAN's unity. Stamp composition and denomination will depend on each postal regulation.

The colorful special ASEAN commemorative stamps are now available in the Philippines at P13.00 each and only 101,000 copies were printed by Amstar Company, Inc. measuring 30X30mm.

Meanwhile, visitors will also be seeing all original stamps and artworks of old and latest issues presented in the exhibit by each ASEAN member countries with introductory texts. The exhibit will run until August 20.

The stamps and official first day cover are now being sold at the Post Shop, Central Post Office, Door 203, Liwasang Bonifacio, Manila and area post offices nationwide. For inquiries, please call 527-01-08 or 527-01-32.