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.

It's Cory's Birthday Today!

If former president Corazon "Cory" Aquino is alive today, she would have been celebrating her 79th birthday and it would have been a wonderful scene to see two presidents in the family celebrating a special occasion.

I wouldn't have remembered Cory's birthday today if I had missed for a minute the short video clip honoring her that was aired this morning in Kris TV, an ABS CBN morning show hosted by her daughter Kris Aquino.

The late president was born on January 25, 1933 and passed away on August 1, 2009. She became the first woman leader of the country after the EDSA People Power Revolution in 1986 ousted President Ferdinand Marcos.

She is the wife of former Senator Benigno Aquino Jr. and the mother of the country's incumbent president, Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III.

In 2009, I came up for Cebu Stamp Club the unique exhibit, A Tribute To Cory Aquino that honored this great lady using stamps and photos of her. I have long considered her as God's greatest gift to the Filipino nation.

The photo above features the September 18, 2009 se -tenant pair stamps, the cachet of the January 25, 2010 Cory Aquino 77th Birth Anniversary limited edition commemorative cover and the August 1, 2011 EDSA People Power Revolution souvenir sheet.

Happy Birthday Cory Aquino! My prayers are with you..

50 Years of the Diocese of Malolos

A set of stamps composing of a 7p se-tenant pair and a 40p souvenir sheet is issued by the Philippine Postal Corporation (Philpost) on January 25, 2012 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Diocese of Malolos.

The first stamp shows the image of the Virgen Inmaculada Concepcion de Malolos and the anniversary logo while the second stamp features the façade of the Immaculate Concepcion Cathedral and Minor Basilica.

Jesus Alfredo Delos Santo did the stamps layout with Rex Mangalindan and Victorino Serevo as design coordinators. Rev. Fr. Jay Lina, Chairman of the Cultural Heritage Committee supplied the photos.

The Diocese of Malolos that has jurisdiction over the entire Province of Bulacan and the City of Valenzuela in Metropolitan Manila and an Archdiocese of Manila suffragan was created on March 11, 1962 by Pope John XXIII. Rev. Manuel del Rosario was installed by Papal Nuncio Salvatore Siino as the first bishop of the Diocese. Most Rev. Jose F. Oliveros, D.D. is the current and 4th Bishop of Malolos.

Personalized 2011 Philippine Stamp Album Pages (2012 Edition)

I am just done creating my latest personalized 2011 Republic of the Philippines stamp album that consists of 42 pages and features the complete stamps, souvenir sheets, miniature sheets and pre-stamped envelopes issued by the Philippine Postal Corporation (Philpost).

For the 2011 individual pages, I designed a header that featured the seal of the Republic of the Philippines and the inauguration as well as the oath taking of Philippine President Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III. 

After having printed the pages on a high resolution printer using a high gloss waterproof A4 paper,  I mounted them carefully on a clear book. 

Check out the photos above on how I presented the stamps as they are beautifully placed in the album.

Creating Personalized Philippine Stamp Album Pages

Specializing in Philippine stamps is no joke. Aside from acquiring the complete stamps every year, there is really a need to mount them on albums nicely and beautifully. I have come across one or two Philippine stamp albums before but I was not satisfied with the presentations on the pages. It was then that I decided to come up with my own personalized stamp album pages for every year and in every era (e.g. spanish, american, commonwealth and republic period).

Conceptualizing and making the designs of the pages myself was no joke. It consumed a lot of my spare time not to mention the stamps that I placed on them cost a lot. All of the Philippine stamps I collect are mint except the Spanish and the American periods where most are used ones.

For the pages, I decided that the headings carry the year and photos of the inauguration and oath-taking of an incumbent Philippine president during that particular year. So for my 2010 and 2011 stamp albums and until the term of President Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino ends, he will be the main design of my pages.

The next task was to individually measure the different stamp issues of a particular year on the pages and then added the write-ups such as the name of the stamp, date of issue, name of printer etc.

With everything done, my stamp pages are now ready for printing. There are more than forty issues of Philippine Republic stamps for every year so the pages I make usually would reach more than forty pages too.

After printing the pages, I painstakingly mounted the stamps in their respective places then put them on a clear book. The end result? I got very positive feedback for my albums. Thanks guys for the compliments! You know who you are...

The photos above are the first two pages of my 2011, 2010 and Japanese occupation stamps.

100 Years of The Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of the Philippines

The Philippine Postal Corporation (Philpost) released on January 19, 2012 a se-tenant pair commemorating 100 years of the Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of the Philippines.

Stamp #1 on 7p highlights the Grand Lodge of the Philippines Building and President Manuel L. Quezon. Stamp #2 also on 7p, shows the Plaridel Masonic Temple with Dr. Jose Rizal, Marcel H. del Pilar and Mariano Ponce.

Photo above shows the 7p se-tenant pair and the official First Day Cover.

In one of my exhibits featuring the Philippine Heroes for Cebu Stamp Club, I included a complete collection of stamps featuring the personalities involved in Philippine Freemasonry.

 

Philippine Masonry's beginnings is similar to the history of the first Grand Lodge. It was in 1717 during the Feast of St. John the Baptist that four masonic lodges in Great Britain formed the first Grand Lodge of the world.

The idea of organizing Freemasonry in the country was conceived by Marcelo H. del Pilar and Dr. Jose P. Rizal. In 1891, with the consent of the Grand Oriente Español, Nilad Lodge No. 144 was established. With this accomplishment, M.H. del Pilar otherwise known as "Plaridel" in the Philippine Revolutionary movement gained the honor of being called the Father of Philippine Masonry. 

Prominent Filipinos who were against the Spanish colonial rule were masons. These include Marcelo H. del Pilar (Bulacan), Jose Rizal (Laguna), Mariano Ponce (Bulacan), Graciano Lopez Jaena (Iloilo), Juan Luna (Ilocos), Antonio Luna (Ilocos), Galicano Apacible (Batangas), Domingo Panganiban (Camarines Norte), Jose Alejandrino (Pampanga), Tomas Arejola (Camarines Sur), Ariston Bautista (Manila), Julio Llorente (Cebu), Andres Bonifacio (Tondo) and Emilio Aguinaldo (Cavite).

On December 19, 1912, three lodges that were chartered under the Constitution of the Grand Lodge of California were successful in establishing the Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of the Philippine Islands (now known as the Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of the Philippines). 

President Manuel L. Quezon who was initiated at Sinukuan Lodge No. 16, Free and Accepted Masons, Manila was a driving force in unifying the Filipino and American Lodges on February 13, 1917. He came to be known as the first Filipino Grandmaster of the Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Mason of the Philippines.

2011 Philippine Stamp Issues (4th Quarter)

The last quarter saw four releases of the Philippine Marine Biodiversity series. The October 17, 2011 issue featured the 1p Picasso Trigger, 2p Marmorated Cone, 5p Copper-band Butterflyfish, 10p Triton Trumpet, 20p Bennett's Feather Star, and the 30p Eibl's Angelfish.

October 25, 2011 saw the issuance of the second set of definitives. These were the 4p Blue-faced Angelfish, 7p Murex Shell and the 100p Regal Tang.

The third was on November 4, 2011 that featured the 9p Polyclad Flatworm, 25p Oriental Sweetlips, and the 35p Kunie's Chromodoria.

The last set came out on November 11, 2011 and featured the 13p Valentine Puffer, 17p Polka-dot Grouper, and the 40p Royal Empress Angelfish.

To celebrate the United Nations Day, Philpost came out on October 24, 2011 stamps that highlighted the International Year of the Forests. The stamps were valued at 7p each and in a se-tenant pair.

The design featured Batlag Falls and a big tree in Pansol, Laguna.

On November 10, 2011 the second issue showcasing Dia Del Galleon was released. The stamps came out on a se-tenant strip of 3 valued at 7p each. A 28p souvenir sheet and an 84p miniature sheet of 12 added to the set. The stamps featured a galleon ship with a map of the Philippines, a galleon ship with a map of Mexico and a galleon ship with a map of Spain.

The following day, to celebrate the 2011 National Stamp Collecting Month, a se-tenant block of 4 stamps valued at 7p each came out together with a 28p souvenir sheet. The stamps highlighted the works of Filipino Artist Hernando R. Ocampo. The stamps showed the following paintings: Homage to Jose Rizal (1976), Break of Day (1948), Summer in September (1975), Mother and Child (1954), Fiesta (1957), Abstraction #15, 17 (1976), Kasaysayan ng Lahi (1974), and Abstraction #22, 26 (1976).

The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) celebrated its 75th year in 2011. To commemorate the event, Philpost issued a se-tenant block of 4 stamps with a value of 7p each on November 14, 2011. The designs featured the official seal of the NBI, Justice Yulo and President Manuel L. Quezon (Forefathers of NBI), President Manuel Roxas With First NBI Director, J. Pardo de Tavera, a magnifying glass and a laptop.

The traditional Pasko (Christmas) stamps were issued on November 25, 2011. The se-tenant block of 4 stamps were valued at 7p each. The stamps depicted Christmas bells, Christmas flowers, toys and gifts and a Christmas lantern (Parol).

On December 5, 2011 Philpost released the 2012 Year of the Dragon stamp set. The set included two stamps valued at 7p and 30p, an 84p souvenir sheet, a 70p miniature sheet of 10, a 300p miniature sheet of 10 and a 74p souvenir sheet.

A 7p stamp commemorating the 110th anniversary of the Office of the Solicitor General was issued on December 15, 2011. The design showed the official seal of the Office of the Solicitor General.

Also on the same day, the Philippine Endemic Frogs set was also issued. A se-tenant block of 4 stamps, a 28p souvenir sheet and a 112p miniature sheet of 18 completed the collection. The stamps featured the Philippine Spiny Cinnamon Frog, Philippine Pygmy Forest Frog, Philippine Flat-headed Frog, Luzon Limestone Forest Frog, Gliding Tree Frog, Northern Luzon Tree-hole Frog, Taylor's Igorot Frog, and Mary Inger's Wart Frog.