1947 Definitives Part 2

On June 19, 1947 the Bureau of Posts continued its pictorial definitive series with the release of three stamps featuring Manila scenes engraved by the American Bank Note Co.:

12c Jones Bridge
16c Santa Lucia Gate
50c Colonnade of Palm Trees

The stamps were issued on the 80th anniversary of Jose Rizal's birth, June 19, 1947

12c Jones Bridge

The 12c stamp shows a pre-WWII view of Jones Bridge and the Manila Central Post Office .

 

 

Jones Bridge and Manila Central Post Office

Jones Bridge

Jones Bridge spans the Pasig River, connecting the district of Binando (Chinatown) with the centre of Manila. The bridge featured on the 12c stamp  was built by the Americans in 1916 and named after Atkinson Jones, a member of the U.S. Congress who sponsored the Philippine Autonomy Act in 1916. The ornate bridge was destroyed by bombs in WWII and reconstructed after the war. The new Jones bridge unlike its predecessor is a simple bridge with metal pole railings.

Manila Central Post Office

Manila Central Post Office

The Manila Central Post Office, built in neoclassical architecture in 1926, was severely damaged in WWII and rebuilt in 1946 preserving most of its original design.

The Post Office did not produce a first day cachet for the definitive issue

 16c Santa Lucia Gate

Manila's Walled City : Intramuros

 Intramuros, located along the southern bank of the Pasig River, is the oldest district and historic core of Manila. Following the Spanish conquest of Manila in 1570, the Spanish built a defensive wall around Manila. The walled part of Manila called Intramuros, which is Latin for "within the walls" political was the military and religious center of the Spanish Empire in Asia..Intramuros was heavily damaged during WWII.  Reconstruction of the walls was started in 1951 when Intramuros was declared a National Historical Monument.

Contemporary aerial view of Intramuros showing its location relative to Jones Bridge and Manila Central Post Office.

Intramuros Gates (Puertas)

Entrance to the walled city was through eight gates or Puertas, two of which are described below.


Puerta Santa Lucia

The Puerta Santa Lucia was one of the original entrances to the Walled City when it was built in 1603. It underwent improvements in the late 18th century. The gate was destroyed during the Battle of Manila in 1945 to allow the entry of American and Philippine Commonwealth tanks into the city. It was restored in 1982.

Puerta Santa Lucia (Pre-WWII)

Puerta Santa Lucia (Restored)

Puerta Rial

The original Real Gate (Royal Gate) was built in 1663 and was used exclusively by the Governor-General for state occasions. It was destroyed during the British invasion of 1762. The Puerta Real was rebuilt in 1780 and moved further west to its present location. During the Battle of Manila, the gate was damaged. It was restored in 1969 with additional work made in 1989.

Puerta Rial (Pre-WWII)

Puerta Rial (Restored)

Stamp Error

Puerta Rial is represented on the stamp but misidentified as Santa Lucia.

 

The Bureau of Posts withdrew the 16c stamp on July 26, 1950 due to the labeling error.

50c  Colonnade of Palm Trees

The American Bank Note Co. engraver may have used a photograph of the palms on Bonafacio Drive (outside the west wall of Intramuros) as a model for the stamp.

 

1947 Manuel L. Quezon

Manuel L. Quezon (1878-1944) was the first Filipino president of the Commonwealth of the Philippines established under U.S. authority, serving from 1935 until his death in 1944. In 1942, Quezon left the Philippines following the Japanese invasion and established the Commonwealth government-in-exile headquartered in Washington.

On May 1, 1947, the Bureau of Posts issued a 1 cent stamp honouring Manuel Quezon. The stamp was produced by the Philippine Bureau of Printing.

 First Day Covers

1947 Definitives Part 1

In 1947, the Philippine Bureau of Posts issued its first definitive series. The first installment released on March 23, 1947, consisted of a 10c stamp featuring the Bonifacio Monument and a 20c stamp picturing the Mayon Volcano.Both stamps were engraved by the American Bank Note Company.

Andres Bonifacio

 Andres Bonifacio was a major figure in the Philippine Revolution.  He was a founder and later leader of the Katipunan movement, a secret society which sought the independence of the Philippines from Spain. The discovery of the Katipunan by Spanish authorities in August, 1896, led to the outbreak of the revolution. Bonifacio reorganized the Katipunan into a de facto revolutionary government naming himself as President and commander-in-chief of the rebel army.

Divisions within the revolutionary movement led to the replacement of the Katipunan by a revolutionary government. In March 1897,  Emilio Aguinaldo defeated Andres Bonifacio in an election held at the Tejeros Convention to become President of the revolutionary government.  Bonifacio refused to recognize the Aguinaldo government and attempted to establishing a rival government. On Aguinaldo's orders, Bonifacio and his brother were arrested and convicted of treason, and sentenced to death. They were executed by firing squad on May 10, 1897.

Bonifacio Monument

The Bonifacio monument , located in Colocan City, north of Manila, was unveiled in 1933. Sculptor Guillermo Tolentino won the nationwide contest held to choose a design for the monument. 

 

10c Bonifacio Monument

Mayon Volcano

Beautifully symmetrical Mayon volcano, which rises to 2462 m above the Albay Gulf, is the Philippines' most active volcano.  The historical eruptions of this  volcano date back to 1616. Mayon's most violent eruption, in 1814, killed more than 1200 people and devastated several towns.

 

Mayon Volcano eruption 2009

20c Mayon Volcano

First Day Cover

Manila Post Office, March 23, 1947

1946 Jose Rizal 50th Anniversary of Martyrdom

 

Jose Rizal (1861-1896) is the premier "National Hero" of the Philippines. His writings against Spanish colonial rule are said to have inspired the Philippine Revolution of 1896. His execution by the Spanish authorities on December 30, 1896 made him a martyr. In 1898, Emilio Aguinaldo, President of the first Philippine Republic, declared December 30 as a "national day of mourning" for Rizal. Rizal was given the official title of Philippine National Hero in 1901 under the country's first American civil governor, William Howard Taft.

The 2 centavos  Jose Rizal stamp issued earlier in 1946 by the Commonwealth of the Philippines  was overprinted to mark the 50th anniversary of Rizal's execution. The first day of issue was December 30, 1946.

 

 The Commonwealth Rizal post card was also overprinted.

 

Rizal Monument

 In 1901, construction of  a monument to honour Jose Rizal was approved by the United States Philippine Commission. Unveiled in 1913, the Rizal Monument in Luneta Park consists of a standing bronze sculpture of Rizal, with an obelisk as a backdrop, set on a pedestal upon which his remains are interred.

 Post Office Official First Day Cover Cachet

The Rizal monument is featured on the post office cachet.

First Day Covers

1946 Independence of the Philippines

On July 4, 1946, the governments of the Republic of the Philippines and the United States signed the Treaty of Manilla of 1946 which provided for the recognition of the independence of the Republic of the Philippines and the relinquishment of American sovereignty over the Philippine Islands.

A set of three stamps, engraved by the United States Bureau of Engraving and Printing,  was issued on July 4, 1946.

Post Office First Day Cover Cachet

The Philippines post office produced first day of issue cachets which were hand stamped onto first day covers.  These official cachets were applied to plain envelopes as well as to envelopes with printed cachets.

Official post office cachet

 Commercial First Day Cover Cachets