Page 2September 19 - 25, 2008 Asian Journal - (619) 474-0588 Visit our website at http://www.asianjournalusa.com
CITY SENSE By Paulo Alcazaren Philstar
Stamp collecting may start as achildhood hobby but it can leadto a lifetime of discovery andenjoyment. I started a stamp col-lection before I hit my teens. Myfather traveled widely andsent us postcards. One of my siblings collected the postcards; another collect-ed the matchbooks my dadalso picked up in Europeor the States (he stoppedsmoking decades later). Icollected the stamps.It was a small collection but I was fascinated bythe images and the themesthey carried. My favoritewas the space race withthe rocket ships and astro-nauts who boldly went where noone dared go before. I baggedmy prize with a First Day Cover (FDC) of the manned landing onthe moon in July 1969. That alsospelled the end of my collectingdays since I did not have anyoutside help to egg me on. I hadno stamp clubs to join and therewere no books on stamp collect-ing in the Philippines to guideme.Finally, someone had the greatidea to publish one after 150years of Philippine philately(stamp collecting, to the uniniti-ated) — Dr. Mina Gabor, presi-dent of the Philippine Small andMedium Business DevelopmentFoundation and an indefatigableadvocate of Philippine tourism.The coffee-table book isStamps of the Philippines: His-torical and Topical Collections1854-2004, written by Lisa Ma- pua and edited by Mimi de Jesus.It is a content-packed tome onthe historical and cultural sig-
nicance of Philippine postage
stamps. The book was publishedwith the support of the Depart-ment of Tourism, the PhilippinePostal Corporation, Asya DesignPartners and the Pag-Ibig Fund.The book is made up of 13comprehensive and reader-friendly chapters on the his-tory and evolution of Philippine
Stamp stories
stamps. Philippine stamps aredepicted by era, starting from theSpanish colonial period, whichlooks at the European genesisof stamps, all the way to stampsduring the Aguinaldo Revolu-tionary Government — yes, wedid print our own; another proof
that we were indeed the rst
democratic independent republicin this part of the globe. Next are chapters on theAmerican and Commonwealth periods, the Japanese Occupa-tion and the immediate postwar period. Finally, the currentPhilippine Republic is coveredthrough the pre- and post-martiallaw years.The book also looks at topicalcollections. Key philatelic topics
like historical personages, ora
and fauna, religion, Rizaliana,religion, arts and culture, andmilestones in Philippine institu-tions, business and politics, arecelebrated in stamps.Gabor and her editorial teamhad an immense job of looking atliterally all the stamps issued inthe country until 2004. This is anestimated 4,000 of those, includ-ing posted letters. Their effortsalso took them to Spain for someof the earliest Philippine stamps — hundreds of philatelic gemskept in the vaults of the Museode Madrid.Dr. Gabor notes that shewanted “people to realize thatthe Philippine stamp collectionis sought after worldwide and isone of the oldest … We fea-
tured many signicant rsts and
revealed many facets of Philip- pine stamps — from the colorfuland the historical to stamps that brilliantly capture the differentaspects of Filipino life.”One of the world’s oldest andmost important philatelic ar-tifacts is the Queen Isabella IIissued in 1854, four years after
Spain issued its rst stamp and
14 years before the pricelessQueen Victoria Penny Black,
the world’s rst stamp issued
in London. Today, the QueenIsabella II is estimated at $1million.The book highlights manyhistorical milestones andlittle-known facts aboutPhilippine history and culture.The American period ushered
in many rsts with Jose Rizal becoming the rst Filipino
ever to appear on a stamp(1906). In 1928, the Rizal
stamp became the rst and
only stamp in the country to be sold via vending machine,although it did not last long because the tropical heat keptfusing the rolls of stamps.
The rst basketball stamp
in the world was issued in thePhilippines as part of the 1934Tenth Far Eastern ChampionshipGames Issue. This set of stamps
also happened to be the rst
in the country to carry a sportstheme. A stamp celebrating ten-nis is part of this series — tennishaving been introduced decadesearlier and made more popular by the previous American Gover-nor General Dwight Davis (after whom theDavisCupwasnamed). Noted in the book as a favor-ite series among philatelists isthe 1932 set featuring scenicscenes like Mayon Volcano andthe Ifugao Rice Terraces. I was pleased to note this as I have afew stamps from the series butnot the most valuable one, whichis the stamp with a printing er-ror. The Pagsanjan Falls stampshows the image of Vernal Fallsin Yosemite National Park inCalifornia, not the once popular tourist destination in Laguna.This stamp is one of the mostsought after in the world.Dr. Gabor came up with theidea for the stamp book to honor the legacy of her step-grandfa-ther Dr. Emilio Teotico Licauco,one of the country’s earlieststamp collectors. Dr. Licaucogot her started in the pursuit of these little gems and eventually bequeathed his invaluable collec-tion to her.She kept it in a bank vaultuntil 1986, when she decided toorganize the collection. Trag-edy struck, however, and the priceless collection was almosttotally lost. She recalled, “That
night we had a re in the house
and we lost everything. I wasso depressed because I knewhow important my grandfather’sstamps were. So I decided Ishould do something to make upfor the loss. I told myself thatone day, I would do somethingon the subject of stamps.”Mina hopes “that the book’scolorful, highly visual and infor-mative format will engage themost seasoned philatelists andinspire non-collectors to starttheir very own stamp collection.”The book ends with a short butinformative section on how tostart a stamp collection.Reading the book got medusting my old collection again.I have mostly stamps on build-ings and places. I only have afew of my childhood collectionleft, though, except for the FDCof Apollo 11. I do have stampsof the UP Golden celebrations,a number of prewar series andeven modern architecture byway of the CCP, DBP and theOrtigas building openings.The Internet has changed our way of communicating butI believe that snail mail willmake a comeback. There isnothing like receiving a hand-written letter or postcard. Digitalmedia cannot replicate the expe-rience of handling and reading amessage from someone far away.So long as it’s not a bill.
By Patricia Esteves Philstar
Fifty years after it was established,the Ramon Magsaysay Awardremains the most credible award-giving body in Asia.“The RM awards is not politi-cized, there is no lobbying, and weare credible because of our choices.When they say Ramon Magsay-say, they think of the Nobel PeacePrize,” said Carmencita Abella, president of the Ramon MagsaysayAwards Foundation (RMAF) inThursday’s press conference.“Our 50th anniversary is a mile-stone event and it is no joke to reach50 years. We’ve been building and main-taining our credibil-ity,” Abella said.Since its incep-tion in 1958, theRMAF has honoredevery year men andwomen in Asia whohave served their community, country,and the region with“greatness of spirit,”an award ideal incommemoratingPresident RamonMagsaysay’s inspir-ing leadership.For this year’s50th anniversary,the RMAF has lined up variousactivities, foremost of which is theinternational conference themed “Changing Asia: Forging Partner-ships, Building Sustainability” onAug. 29 and 30 in Manila.The event will bring together for
the rst time Magsaysay laureates
who would discuss important issuesabout Asia and its future.“The conference will discuss atwhere we are today and look at themost important issues, especiallynow that we see a shift, and sud-denly food has become a major issue and at the top of the radar of things,” said Emily Abrera, chair- person of Magsaysay 50th anniver-sary celebrations and vice chairmanof the RMAF Board Trustees.Another highlight is the perfor-mance of the Cloud Gate DanceTheatre of Taiwan, a world-renowned dance company whosefounder Lin Hwai-min received the
‘RM Awards remains themost credible award-giving body in Asia’
Magsaysay award in 1999.Cloud Gate, hailed for fusingdance techniques and theatrical con-cepts from the East and West, has performed throughout Europe, Asia,Australia, North and South America,including engagements at the NewYork’s Next Wave Festival, theSydney 2000 Olympic Arts Festival,Lyon Bienalle De La Danse, andMelbourne International.They will perform “Moon Water”at the Cultural Center of the Philip- pines on Aug. 30 and 31.Dr. Cynthia Bautista, former RMAF board of trustees, will alsotalk on her research and projectstudy on “What has been the ef-fect of the RamonMagsaysay Awardson the awardees andon Asia as a whole,”during the discussionsessions.“Our business isnot just to hand outawards but spread thegood news of Asiaas embodied in thelives of awardees,”Bautista said.Meanwhile, Abellaurged Filipinos to be upbeat about theRMAF and celebrateits 50th anniversary.“ Amidst all the problems in our country today, The Ramon Magsay-say Awards is a source of pride for the Philippines. It was establishedin honor of a Filipino. This has beenone bright light for the past 50years,” Abella said.The sudden and tragic loss of themuch admired third president of the Philippines, Ramon Magsaysay,in 1957 inspired the trustees of theRockefeller Trustees to establishthe Ramon Magsaysay Award, withthe concurrence of the Philippinegovernment.The award sought to honor Mag-saysay’s memory by recognizingother leaders in Asia whose work
in seless service to their societies
mirrors the same values and ideals
he exemplied.
Since its inception in 1958, therehave been 250 inviduals and organi-zations that received the Magsaysayaward.
Ramon Magsaysay
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