MALACAÑANG DOCTOR RARE STAMPS COLLECTION. Dr. Hermogenes C. Lorenzo (5th, left), Malacañang Clinic’s long time director exhibits his rare collection of famous stamps all over the world at the lobby of the Manila Central Post Office in Liwasang Bonifacio. Witnessing the exhibit are ( from left) Mr. Robert Tan, Director, Philippine Philatelic Federation (PPF), Mr. Robert Jacinto, President, PPF, Postmaster General Hector R. R. Villanueva, Elizabeth C. Tungol, Assistant Postmaster General for Finance, Dr. Lorenzo, Elenita D.L. San Diego, Acting Manager, Postage and Philatelic Department, Elsie Loyola, and Pio Rodriguez, Director, PPF.

The Philippine Postal Corporation (Philpost) unveiled last Feb. 15 a one-man philatelic exhibit to run for one month at its lobby in Liwasang Bonifacio, Manila.

Entitled “Discovery and Scientific Inventions,” the exhibit showcased the personal stamp and rare-letter collections of Dr. Hermogenes Lorenzo, a long time director of the Malacanang Clinic.

Postmaster General Hector R.R. Villanueva, Lorenzo, Philatelic Services director Lenny San Diego and Philippine Philatelic Foundation (PPF) officials witnessed the ceremonial ribbon cutting and opening of the exhibit.

Such kind of exhibit is the first to be hosted by Philpost, given the collector’s rare collections that Lorenzo accumulated from his frequent travels to different countries.

On display are stamps depicting that of Alexander Fleming, the inventor of penicillin; Dr. Christian Barnard, the doctor who conducted the very first successful heart transplant in 1967; Copernicus, the Polish astronomer who proved that the world is round; and Rudolf Diesel, the inventor of diesel.

Almost 90 percent of the famous persons seen at the one-man exhibit were born from 1700 to 1950s, the years when many discoveries transpired. Except for Barnard’s achievements, all other inventions and discoveries seen at the exhibit were done before 1920.

“We’re so grateful that there is somebody like Dr. Lorenzo who is willing to let the public see his rare collection. His stamps may be small in sizes but their value is really immense,” Villanueva said.

He added that the exhibitor is among the top members of PPF because of his huge volume of rare stamp collections.

The postmaster general said Philpost used to host exhibits but those were efforts of group of philatelists who wanted their collections to be seen by the public. The sheer volume of Lorenzo’s collections enables him to conduct a one-man show, according to San Diego.