Republic of the Philippines - Stamps & Postal History

RP Issues of 2013

HOMEPAGE

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2013, June 11.  Malacanan Palace - Official Residence of the President - 150th Anniversary

Litho Offset.  Amstar Company, Inc.  Perf 13 1/2

Singles, Sheets of 50

                

 

10p  Malacanan Palace by the Pasig River - Singles   (500,000)

 

Designer:  Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning, Office of Undersecretary Manuel L. Quezon III

Layout Artist:  Jose Antonio A. Jayme

 

 

First Day Covers:  Manila

 

 

 


 

MALACANAN PALACE - OFFICIAL RESIDENCE OF THE PRESIDENT - 150th ANNIVERSARY

 

The official residence of the President of the Philippines is Malacañan Palace, situated in the old Manila district of San Miguel.

The first recorded owner of the property is Luis Rocha, a Spaniard in the Galleon trade.  The Rocha property was built of stone, described as being a relatively modest country house.

Luis Rocha sold the property in 1802 to Colonel Jose Miguel Fomento of the Spanish Army. Fomento’s testamentary executors sold it to the government upon his death in 1825, after which it was converted into a temporary residence for outgoing Governors General awaiting the next ship to Spain.

The  great earthquake of June 3, 1863 felled what was up to that point the seat of power, the Palacio in Intramuros. The Governor General had to move to Malacañan Palace.  It became the official residence of the Governor-General by virtue of a Superior Decree dated June 11, 1863. Throughout the next century, under the supervision of the American Governors-General and, starting 1935, the Presidents of the Philippines, buildings have been added, remodeled, expanded, demolished and rebuilt, and adjoining lands bought.

The most grandiose of these renovations happened in 1978-1979. The Palace itself was drastically remodeled and extensively rebuilt by then First Lady Imelda Romualdez Marcos.

It stands to this day as a sprawling complex and a symbol of political power in the country. It currently holds the office of Benigno S. Aquino III, 15th President of the Philippines.

Malacañan Palace has been featured in the PHP20 bill reverse/back side since 1969 and had been moved from the reverse to the bottom center of the obverse/front in 2010.

To commemorate the Sesquicentennial (150th) Anniversary (1863-2013) of the Palace, the Philippine Postal Corporation (PHLPost) is issuing a stamp with the denomination of 10 pesos. The stamp shows the Façade of Malacañan Palace from the view across the Pasig River, with the official Government Seal of the Philippines

 

TOPICAL CATEGORIES

  • Architecture

  • Lakes, Oceans, Rivers

 

Articles by Dr. Ngo Tiong Tak

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Issues of 2013