Philippine Stamps and Topical Stamp Collecting, 2nd Edition

     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.

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     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.

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     The first "bicycle stamp" of the Republic period was issued on December 22, 1947. It was a special delivery stamp that showed a postal messenger riding on a bicycle. It had a denomination of 20 centavos. The first "flower stamp" was issued on December 8, 1948. The featured flower was the sampaguita, which was (and still is) the national flower of the Philippines. The title of the issue was "Flower Day, Sampaguita."

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     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. The set had 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 two denominations: 5 centavos and 6 centavos. The featured fish was the milkfish or "bangus" as it was (and still is) known locally.

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     The first "basketball stamp" of the Philippines 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 denomination of 6 centavos, which was the lowest denomination of the set.

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     The first "orchid stamp" of the Republic period was issued on March 9, 1962. The set consisted of a se-tenant block of 4 stamps and an imperforate block of 4 stamps. 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 denominations of the stamps (perforate and imperforate) were as follows: 5 centavos, 6 centavos, 10 centavos and 20 centavos.

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     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 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 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.

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     These are some of the first topical stamps of the Republic period in Philippine postage history. (Below are images of the first stamps: the first bicycle stamp of 1947, the first Christmas stamps of 1967, the first flower stamp of 1948 and the first fish stamps of 1952.)