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
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| January 23, 1899 – March 23, 1901 |
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| Issued on February 6, 1966 (4th set) |
Commonwealth of the Philippines (U.S. Control)
Manuel Quezon
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| November 15, 1935-August 1, 1944 |
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| Issued on November 15, 1967 (6th set) |
Sergio Osmeña
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| August 1, 1944-May 28, 1946 |
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| Issued June 12, 1970 |
Manuel Roxas
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| 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
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| October 14, 1943 – August 17, 1945 |
Jose Laurel definitive stamps
2nd Republic, October 14, 1944
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| Issued on November 6, 1966 (5th set) |
Overseas Mailers
Third Republic (Independent State)
Manuel Roxas
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| May 28, 1946 – April 15, 1948 |
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Issued July 4, 1963 (1st set)
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Elpidio Quirino
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First term: April 17, 1948-December 30, 1949 (succeeded)
Second term: December 30,1949-December 30, 1953 (elected) |
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| Issued February 28, 1965 (3rd set) |
Overseas Mailers
Ramon Magsaysay
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| December 30, 1953-March 17, 1957 |
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| Issued December 30, 1963 (2nd set) |
Carlos P. Garcia
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\First term: March 18, 1957-December 30, 1957 (succeeded)
Second term: December 30, 1957-December 30, 1961 (elected)
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| Issued February 27, 1973 (8th set) |
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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
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| 5c on 6c |
Laurel Credo of 1966
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| 5c on 6c |
May 29, 1972
Aguinaldo Credo of 1966
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| 10c on 6c |
September 29, 1972
Magsaysay Credo of 1963
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| 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..
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| Overprint |
Roxas Credo of 1963
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| 10c on 6c (not in author's collection) | | | | |
Quirino Credo of 1965
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| 10c on 6c |
Overseas Mailers
