Nation Celebrates the EDSA People Power Revolution

 

The spirit of EDSA lives on as the Filipino nation celebrates the 26th Anniversary of the EDSA People Power Revolution.

President Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III leads the nation in today's celebration. After the flag raising ceremony and the Salubungan, the monument of Manila Archbishop Jaime Cardinal Sin will be unveiled at the Rizal Park. This year's theme is "Ano Ang Iyong Taya Para sa Pilipinas Natin."

The stamps, souvenir sheet and first day covers I featured here comprise the EDSA People Power Revolution set released by Philpost on August 1, 2011.  

Puerto Princesa Underground River Is Among The New7Wonders of Nature

Filipinos have something to be proud again after the official announcement that the Philippine's Puerto Princesa Underground River (PPUR) is among the World's New7Wonders of Nature. Earlier, the PPUR was also included as a World Heritage Site by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco).

Bernard Weber, the president of the New7Wonders based in Zurich (Switzerland) made the announcement in a press conference last Saturday.

The PPUR and South Korea's Jeju Island have been validated and proclaimed while the Amazon (South America), Halong Bay (Vietnam), Iguazu Falls (Argentina), Komodo (Indonesia), and Table Mountain (South Africa) are still being tabulated and verified.

The quest for the New7Wonders of Nature began in 2007 with 220 countries sending in around 440 entries. Initially, the votes were for the top 77 and was narrowed down to the shortlist of the top 28 then to the provisional 7.

One person who played an important role for the success of this extraordinary endeavor is President Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III. His issuance of Presidential Proclamation No. 182 in 2011 that calls for a promotional campaign for the PPUR was a tremendous success. Filipinos heeded his call! One tv news I watched mentioned that there were more than 20 million Filipinos who voted for the inclusion of the PPUR.

The Puerto Princesa Underground River is the longest navigable underground river in the World and is located some 50km north of the city of Puerto Princesa, Palawan. It consists of a limestone karst mountain landscape, several large chambers containing significant formations of stalactites and stalagmites, and an 8.2 km. navigable underground river that winds through a cave before flowing directly into the West Philippine Sea. At the exit, a flawless lagoon is framed by ancient trees growing right to the water’s edge.

The photo above is borrowed from the New7Wonders of Nature website. Click here to see the site.

Remembering Jose Rizal @ 150

President Benigno Aquino III led the nation in paying tribute to the country’s national hero Dr. Jose Rizal who celebrates his 150th birthday on June 19, 2011.

To formally kick-off the celebration, he led the flag-raising ceremonies at the Rizal ancestral home compound and offered a wreath at Rizal’s statue as a boy. A 21-gun salute in honor of the national hero was accorded by members of the Presidential Security Group.

The President enjoined the Filipinos to emulate Rizal’s heroism and praised him for choosing to do the right thing. “Rizal could have used his wealth and education to become rich and marry any girl he fancied, but he chose to correct the injustices done to the motherland.. Even with the crossroads that he faced, Rizal never strayed away from the right path.” Aquino said.

Furthermore, he adds “For most people, heroism is measured by how we face our everyday struggles.”

The President was presented with five commemorative tokens for the Jose Rizal @ 150 celebration. These are; a certificate of restoration of the Noli Me Tangere by German Ambassador to the Philippines Christian Ludwig Weber Lorssch; the e-Rizal tablet from Gov. Ejercito; a “Rizal at 150” commemorative medal from Central Bank governor Amado Tetangco, Jr.; a “Rizal at 150” commemorative stamp from Post Master General Antonio de Guzman; and a book on the “Lineage, Life and Labors of Jose Rizal” by Tulay Foundation chairman Manuel Chua.

Later, the president unveiled the tallest statue of Rizal together with local officials of Calamba, the hometown of Rizal. The 22-foot bronze monument designed and created by Jonas Roces of Marikina stands on a 6.7-hectare property in front of the Calamba City Hall complex.

25,000 Gathered for Edsa At 25 Celebration

Around 25,000 people gathered on February 25, 2011 to celebrate 25 years of the EDSA People Power 1 along the Epifanio Delos Santos Avenue (EDSA) in Quezon City.

It was nostalgia for most people who attended the festivities. People took souvenir photos with the Lady of Edsa Shrine as their background.

The color yellow dominated the occasion with multitudes of people coming in yellow shirts, caps and umbrellas while yellow ribbons and posters filled the place.

Yellow was the symbolic color used by Cory Aquino during the 1986 protest actions against the regime of President Ferdinand Marcos.

During this year’s celebration, President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino Jr. led the nation in the festivities and spoke at the reenactment of the historic “salubungan” of the forces that comprise People Power.

President Aquino urged those who fought against Marcos to help his administration in the fight against poverty.

"The fight that we started in EDSA is not yet over and it cannot be continued by just one person. In the same way that we faced off tanks and put an end to the dictatorship, we must also end the problems that we have inherited," he told his supporters.

Photo above features the heroes of Edsa with President Noynoy Aquino as he pays tribute to the millions of Filipinos who took to the streets in 1986 to stop loyal soldiers of President Marcos from arresting top military officers who were against him.

President Benigno Simeon "Noynoy" Aquino III FDC

Here's the official first day cover of President Benigno Simeon Aquino III issued by the Philippine Postal Corporation (Philpost) on July 26, 2010.

This completes the tradition of the Philippine postal administration to release stamps and fdcs of Philippine presidents featuring their inaugurals.

President Benigno S. Aquino III Stamps

Finally it's going to be out in two days! The President Benigno S. Aquino III stamps will be released on July 26, 2010 by the Philippine Postal Corporation (Philpost).

The stamps are valued at P 7.00 and P 40.00 and relive President Aquino's historical inaugural speech and oathtaking last June 30, 2010 at the Quirino Grandstand at the Rizal Park.

The issuance of the stamps coincides with the first State of the Nation address of the Philippine President.

Finally Got My Noynoy Aquino Commemorative Covers

During the inauguration day of President Benigno Simeon "Noynoy" Aquino III last June 30, 2010, I was glad to learn that the Philippine Postal Corporation (Philpost) came out with a limited edition commemorative cover issued on the same day. (Read my previous blog on June 30, 2010 that tells more about this cover.)

A friend in Manila informed me that only 2000 pieces were printed. He further added that postal tellers went to the inauguration site and sold 1500 pieces of the cover so that only 500 covers are left for collectors and dealers.

Lucky me, I was among those who got 2 covers with serial numbers 0690 and 0691 respectively.

Philpost sold the covers randomly unmindful of the number sequence. The stamps used on the covers were the last remaining se-tenant pair of the Cory Aquino Memorial Issue released on September 18, 2009. These were cut and placed on individual covers. That makes two covers to collect to complete the set.

As of this writing, I am eagerly waiting for the stamps that will be issued featuring Noynoy's inauguration. Philpost said that it will come out this month as It is always the tradition of the postal service that they come out with these stamps.

The Philippine Presidents Stamp and Photo Exhibit

An upcoming exhibit that Cebu Stamp Club, Incorporated will undertake in September this year is "The Philippine Presidents: A Stamp and Photo Exhibit" which is going to be held in one of the malls here in Cebu City.

Taken from my collections, this exhibit will highlight the stamps and first day covers of all Philippine Presidents from Emilio Aguinaldo to Benigno Simeon "Noynoy" Aquino III.

Also featured in this exhibit is a collection featuring Philippine History which will include stamps from the Spanish Dominion, American Regime, Commonwealth Period, Japanese Occupation, and the Republic Issues.

Email cebustampclub_inc@yahoo.com if you would like to be a sponsor of this event.

The Philippine Presidents on stamps website will be fully updated with a new page featuring Noynoy and his stamps and will be relaunched on the opening day of the exhibit.

President Benigno Simeon C. Aquino III Takes His Oath Today

For the Philippines, today is a day of hope, a day of change and a day of unity.

The whole country watched as Benigno Simeon C. Aquino III takes his oath of office at exactly 12:00 noon as the 15th President of the Republic of the Philippines.

I am glad I voted for him. In spite of his shortcomings, I know that he will be a good president.

To President Noynoy, May God Bless you and this country!

Philpost Issues Noynoy Commemorative Cover

To highlight the inauguration of President Benigno Simeon C. Aquino III today as the 15th president of the Philippines, the Philippine Postal Corporation (Philpost) issues on the same day the limited edition Commemorative Cover of President Benigno Simeon C. Aquino III.

The commemorative cover features a cachet of Noynoy but the stamp used is the 7-peso President Cory Aquino Memorial stamp 2nd edition issued on September 18, 2010. Because the Cory stamp came out in a se-tenant issue, the other design featuring Cory flashing the L-sign (Laban) is also used.

The cover is valued at 15.00 but Philpost has released only 2,000 pieces of the cover. Each FDC has a unique number on the left edge so that each FDC will be different from each other.

Update 07.01.10:

My friend and Cebu Stamp Club member Henry Chua informed me that during the inauguration ceremony of President Benigno Aquino III which was a holiday, post office tellers went to the inauguration site and sold out 1,500 of the 2,000 covers made. The remaining 500 pcs. were quickly bought by stamp dealers and collectors.

Noynoy-mania Hits the Country!

With just a day before his inauguration as the 15th President of the Republic of the Philippines, Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino's popularity has exploded into a marketing event.

Noynoy-mania has hit the whole country by storm. Various merchandises featuring the next president are now sold in stores as well as in cyberspace such as eBay.

These items include Noynoy yellow t-shirts, Noynoy inaugural watches, Noynoy dolls, fans, cups, button pins, hats, umbrellas and a lot more.

It's quite interesting because this is the first time that a Philippine president has become a marketing sensation.

I'd love to get hold of a Noynoy watch and the new Time magazine featuring the president-elect. Of course, I can't wait to have the stamps with the FDC's too.

Cebu Stamp Club's June 2010 Stamp Meetup

After holding the meetup in different venues these past months, we came back to our original meetup place on June 27, 2010 at McDonald's Jones, Cebu City.

The June 2010 Meetup tackled more on the previous month's adventure in Alcoy. The excitement hasn't subsided yet inspite of the weeks that passed. This prompted Sharee Ann Trapa, our club secretary to invite the group to her birthday on July 23, 2010 and hold the July meetup there.

Eyan Yu pledged to bring pork liempo while I offered three chicken lechons. Janus Bariñan along with other members will be bringing food too to make the occasion a feast.

The group decided to hold only one grand stamp auction for the year and it's gonna be during our December Christmas party.

In line with its civic duty, it was also agreed that the club will come out with civic activities and projects such as tree plantings, feeding programs for kids, and the sponsoring of school supplies to grade 1 pupils in one of the city's public schools soon.

Another mega stamp exhibit is set to take place in August this year in one of the malls here in Cebu and will highlight the stamps of the new president, Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III.

CD copies of all the CSCI Newsletters issued in 2009 as well as stamp freebies were distributed to all those who came.