In line with the National Stamp Collecting Month, the Philippine Postal Corporation (Philpost) is coming up with a special stamp issue featuring “Games Children Play” on November 9 to coincide with the 111th Anniversary celebration of the postal service.

Per Presidential Decree No. 264, every November of each year was declared by then President Fidel Ramos as ” National Stamp Collecting Month”. Stamp collecting’s charm is its individual, tailor-made freedom to fit the desires of any collector for as much as he wishes to spend in time, money and effort.

Stamp collecting is considered as the “World’s Most Fascinating Hobby” and every year more than 500,000 different stamps are being issued by postal administrations around the world touching on various subjects.

One of the three youngsters who designed the GCP stamp is Jairo Gamboa, an 18 year old student from the Technological University of the Philippines (TUP). Gamboa had his On-the Job-Training (OJT) stint at the Stamps and Designing Section of the Postage and Philatelic Department under the stewardship of Ms. Elenita San Diego of Philpost.

The technical description of the GCP-NSCM stamps are as follows:

Kind of Issue: Special
Denomination and Quantity: Php7.00 -100,000 pieces (4 designs)
Souvenir Sheets: Php42.00 – 5,000 pieces (each with 4
Perforated and 2 imperforate stamps)
Date of Issue: November 9, 2009
Last date of Sale: November 8, 2010
Size of Stamps: 40 mm x 30 mm
Size of Souvenir Sheet: 128 mm x 10 mm
Sheet composition: 16 (4 x4)
Perforation: 14
Printing Process: Litho Offset (4 colors)
Paper: Imported Unwatermarked
Printer: Amstar Company, Inc.
Design Coordinator: Dr. Ngo Tiong Tak
Designers: Jairo Gamboa of TUP, 18 years old
Patricia Ann Feliciano Ng, 9 years old
Jeremy Ace Feliciano Ng, 7 years old
from St. Jude Catholic School
Design of Stamps: Drawing of some popular games played by children.