RP stamps sale boost to SEAG

Philippine Tot Baseball founder Rodolfo ‘Totoy’ Tingzon may have been out of the limelight for some time now but his heart still belongs to sports.

That is why when the opportunity to be reunited with fellow sportsmen presented itself, the former Vice Governor and Congressman from the 2nd district of Laguna wasted no time in helping organizers of the 23rd Southeast Asian Games.

No, he isn’t into a new sport. He is helping the Philippine Southeast Asian Games Organizing Committee (Philsoc) realize more revenues by way of his new project, called Pinoy Stamps, Inc.

Yesterday, Tingzon and his daughter Rodylyn Tingzon-Mariano, president of Pinoy Stamps Inc., signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with Philsoc president and Chief Executive Officer Jose Cojuangco Jr. for the launching of the project that will make available personalized stamps to participants of the 23rd Southeast Asian Games.

The nine-day biennial meet, to be participated in by 11 nations, will be hosted by the country Nov. 27-Dec. 5.

"This is one way of revitalizing the postal services while helping the organizers realize more revenues," Tingzon-Mariano said during yesterday’s signing at the Philsoc headquarters inside the Philippine International Convention Center.

Specially-designed booths will be set up in all the venues of the conclave, including Bacolod, Cebu, Tagaytay and Subic. For every P500,000 sale of the personalized commemorative stamps, Philsoc will get 10 percent, according to the elder Tingzon.

The stamps will feature 12 of the 41 events to be contested in the games.

Personalized stamps commemorating important events are actually not new in the sporting world. Tingzon said it is now a worldwide craze dating back to the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

These stamps will be very limited, he said. The Philpost will provide pre-perforated, pre-printed stamps to Pinoy Stamps Inc. which would in turn put them up for sale in the booths scattered in all the venues.

Even with his new business, Tingzon is not totally leaving tot baseball behind. He has turned over his legacy, the Philippine Tot Baseball, to his son, Rodolfo Tingzon Jr. who is now running the affairs of the association.