PHLpost to release commemorative stamp for Pope Francis’ PH visit

The “block of four” commemorative stamps. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO/PhilPost MEdia

MANILA, Philippines—A “block of four” commemorative stamps for the visit of Pope Francis in the country from January 15 to 19 will be issued by the Philippine Postal Corp. (PHLpost) on Thursday.

The stamp, measuring 30 mm by 40 mm, will feature four designs picked from hundreds of entries received by PHLpost during an on-the-spot design competition.

The art pieces featured in the stamps were made by Dave Arjay Tan, Salvadore Banares Jr., Don Michael Bryan Bunag and Mark Leo Maac.

Each stamp costs P10 and only 120,000 copies will be released.

Postmaster General Josie dela Cruz said the PHLpost decided to issue these stamps to honor the pontiff’s compassion to the Filipino people.

“With the release of the Pope Francis’ Visit to the Philippines stamps, we would like to express our sincerest appreciation for His Holiness’ visit to our country primarily to comfort the Filipino victims of the 2013 earthquake and Supertyphoon Yolanda,” Dela Cruz said in a statement.

“We are deeply moved by his compassion to the Filipino people, thus, in this once in a lifetime visit, we opted to produce these pieces of history,” she added.

Dela Cruz said PHLpost is coordinating with the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines for the presentation of the stamp to Pope Francis.

PHLpost will also release a Pope Francis souvenir sheet featuring a coinage stamp before the pope’s arrival.

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