PhilPost issues stamps to commemorate APPU anniversary

MANILA, Philippines - Postal stamps commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Asia Pacific Postal Union (APPU) – of which the Philippines is one of four founding members – are now available.

Philippine Postal Office Philatelic Service director Lenny San Diego said the stamps will be available in two designs beginning tomorrow at the PhilPost head office.

The Philippines, along with China, Thailand and South Korea, formed the APPU on April 1, 1962.

Amstar Company Inc. printed 200,000 pieces of the P7 edition stamp and 100,000 pieces of the P30 edition. The designer of the stamps is Victorino Serevo.

The P7 stamp, measuring 40 mm x 30 mm, carries the APPU logo at the center and bears the flags of the member-countries. While the P30 stamp – measuring 80 mm by 30 mm – shows the representation of the P1.50 stamp issued in 1977 for the 15th anniversary of the Asian Oceanic Postal Union (AOPU).

The APPU, originally known as Asian Oceanic Postal Convention, is an inter-governmental organization of 32 postal administrations in the Asia Pacific region.

The organization’s objective is to extend, facilitate, and improve postal relations between member countries and to promote cooperation in the field of postal services. It was in the 1950s when the idea of a postal union came up. After some informal discussions, the Philippine government sent through diplomatic channels invitations to 18 countries for a roundtable in Manila.

The 1961 Manila Postal Conference gave birth to the Asian Oceanic Postal Convention in Manila on Jan. 23, 1961 by representatives of Australia, China, Korea, New Zealand, Philippines and Thailand.

The four founding member-countries of APPU established the union’s headquarters in Manila with Enrico Palomar, postmaster general of the Philippines, as its first director. Since then, every Philippine postmaster general has been named director of APPU.

In 1983 APPU became affiliated with the Universal Postal Union of the United Nations. It relocated its headquarters to Bangkok in 2002.

The membership of the union increased to 32 countries including Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Iran, Japan, Lao, Malaysia, Mongolia, Maldives, Myanmar, Nauru, Nepal, New Zealand, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Samao, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Vanuatu and Vietnam.