Wednesday, November 7, 2012

1963 -1973 Presidential Credo Series

From 1963 to 1973, the Philippine Bureau of Posts issued the attractive "Presidential Credo" series consisting of  eight sets of stamps honouring the first eight Presidents. The stamps have a common design featuring an engraved image of the President on the left side of the stamp and that President's credo in Filipino and English or Filipino and Spanish. Each stamp has a facsimile signature of the President but the name is not printed on the stamp.

The first set in the series, featuring President Manuel Roxas, was engraved by Bradbury, Wilkinson (England). All other sets were engraved by the Government Printing Bureau (Japan).  The stamps were not issued in chronological order of Presidencies.

Some of the Presidential Credo stamps were subsequently surcharged and surcharged/overprinted. These varieties are shown separately.  This post features some of the commercial first day cover cachets produced for this series, many of which are hand painted.

(Paintings of the Presidents shown below are from the Presidential Museum & Library)


First  Republic of the Philippines (Malolos Republic)

Emilio Aguinaldo


January 23, 1899 – March 23, 1901

Issued on February 6, 1966 (4th set)


 















 




 Commonwealth of  the Philippines (U.S. Control)


Manuel Quezon


November 15, 1935-August 1, 1944

Issued on November 15, 1967 (6th set)














Sergio Osmeña



August 1, 1944-May 28, 1946

Issued June 12, 1970





Manuel Roxas


May 28, 1946 – April 15, 1948

(The Roxas stamp set is shown under the Third Republic heading.)


 Second Republic of the Philippines (Japanese Control)


Jose P. Laurel


October 14, 1943 – August 17, 1945


Jose Laurel definitive stamps
2nd Republic, October 14, 1944



Issued on November 6, 1966 (5th set)












Overseas Mailers



Third Republic (Independent State)


 Manuel Roxas


May 28, 1946 – April 15, 1948

Issued July 4, 1963 (1st set)














 Elpidio Quirino



First term: April 17, 1948-December 30, 1949 (succeeded)
Second term: December 30,1949-December 30, 1953 (elected)

Issued February 28, 1965 (3rd set)







 







Overseas Mailers







 Ramon Magsaysay




December 30, 1953-March 17, 1957

Issued December 30, 1963 (2nd set)














Carlos P. Garcia


\First term: March 18, 1957-December 30, 1957 (succeeded)
Second term: December 30, 1957-December 30, 1961 (elected)




Issued February 27, 1973 (8th set)






















Overseas Mailers




Surcharges and Overprints


The Bureau of Posts regularly surcharged or overprinted older stamps that had remained unsold. The surcharges made available stamps of needed denominations. Overprints made it possible to commemorate significant events without designing and printing new stamps.


a) Presidential Credo Surcharges


These are shown in order of release.

March 28, 1968


Quirino Credo of 1965

5c on 6c

Laurel Credo of 1966

5c on 6c








May 29, 1972


Aguinaldo Credo of 1966

10c on 6c








September 29, 1972

 

Magsaysay Credo of 1963

10c on 6c




b) Presidential Credo Surcharges and Overprints

 

Asia-Pacific Scout Conferrence : November 13, 1972


The Roxas Credo of 1963 and the Quirino Credo of 1965 were overprinted and surcharged..

Overprint


Roxas Credo of 1963
10c on 6c (not in author's collection)

Quirino Credo of 1965

10c on 6c


 Overseas Mailers