Gastroenterology on Stamps 2

This is the second of the special series on Gastroenterology on stamps. Click here to see first series. Featured here are the first day cover of the 3rd Panhellinic Congress of Gastroenterology issued by Greece in 1974, three special covers from Romania issued in 1993 for the National Symposium of Gastroenterology and Digestive Endoscopy, which had a special cancel and postmark and a Gastroenterology Week- Protection against AIDS stamp issued by Greece in 1992.

In this connection, the PSDE Commander General, Dr. Jonathan Sandejas is encouraging and inviting all gastroenterologist to join the 2011 Live Endoscopy Boot Camp and Workshop at NKI on August 17-19. Several GI topics will be tackled and "Meet the Masters" session is back. Three international faculties from Singapore, India and Thailand will share their expertise. Hope to see you there.

Gastroenterology on Stamps

Gastroenterology is the medical sub-specialty concerned with the function and disorders of the stomach,intestines, liver and related organs of the gastrointestinal tract.

Very few stamps related to Gastroenterology events had been issued. The majority are presented here. The World Congress of Gastroenterology (WCOG) is held every four years event under the auspices of the World Organisation of Gastroenterology (OMGE). Since its inaugural conference in 1958 in Washington, D.C.,

WCOG has become the leading quadrennial gathering of the world's digestive disease physicians. The previous World Congresses where special stamps were issued for the event include- 1974 in Mexico City, Mexico; 1986, Sao Palo, Brazil; and Bangkok,Thailand in 2002, which is the first World Congress of Gastroenterology ever hosted in Asia.

During the International Congress of Gastroenterology held in Rome in 1988, special stamps were also issued. Two years before the event, Dr. Aldo Torsoli, then President of the Congress, proposed that working team committees be assigned to address medical issues not easily resolved by usual scientific inquiry or review. Continued support led to a series of functional gastrointestinal working teams between 1991 and 1994 that first developed guidelines for the diagnosis of irritable bowel syndrome- The Rome Criteria.

Other Gastroenterological events which issued stamps include: The First Bolivian-Japanese Gastroenterology Conference in La Paz, 1992, The 4th Asian Pacific Congress in Manila, Philippines, 1972 and the First Uruguayan Proctology Congress in Montevideo, 1965- one of the first GI event to issue a stamp.

This Philippine stamp had two colors- ultramarine and multicolored in 20 cents denomination, 12.5 x 13 perforation. The heliographer was Setelepaino, Finland.

Click here to go to series 2 on Gastroenterology on stamps.

Dr. Jose Rizal on Stamps

José Protasio Rizal Mercado y Alonso Realonda (June 19, 1861 – December 30, 1896), was a Filipino polymath, nationalist and the most prominent advocate for reforms in the Philippines during the Spanish colonial era. He is the country's national hero and the anniversary of Rizal's death is commemorated as a Philippine holiday called Rizal Day. Rizal's 1896 military trial and execution made him a martyr of the Philippine Revolution.

The seventh of eleven children born to a wealthy family in the town of Calamba, Laguna, Rizal attended the Ateneo Municipal de Manila, earning a Bachelor of Arts. He enrolled in Medicine and Philosophy and Letters at the University of Santo Tomas and then traveled alone to Madrid, Spain, where he continued his studies at the Universidad Central de Madrid, earning the degree of Licentiate in Medicine.

He attended the University of Paris and earned a second doctorate at the University of Heidelberg. Rizal was a polyglot conversant in at least ten languages. He was a prolific poet, essayist, diarist, correspondent, and novelist whose most famous works were his two novels, Noli me Tangere and El Filibusterismo. These are social commentaries on the Philippines that formed the nucleus of literature that inspired dissent among peaceful reformists and spurred the militancy of armed revolutionaries from the Spanish colonial authorities.

Pio Valenzuela on Stamps

Pío Valenzuela (July 11, 1869-April 6, 1956) was a Filipino physician and patriot who was among the leaders of the Katipunan that started the Philippine Revolution against Spain. Valenzuela City in northern Metro Manila was named after him.

He wrote his memoirs of the Philippine Revolution in the 1920s, but historians have since been wary of his autobiography because of some inconsistencies in his version of events, particularly about his meeting with José Rizal in Dapitan in 1896. Valenzuela was the first mayor (American regime) of municipality of Polo (now Valenzuela City) from 1899-1900 before he became the governor of Bulacan province from 1921-1925.

Valenzuela was born in Polo, Bulacan (Now Barangay Polo, Valenzuela City) to Francisco Valenzuela and Lorenza Alejandrino, who both came from wealthy families. After he was tutored at home, he was brought to Manila to study at Colegio de San Juan de Letran. In 1888, he enrolled at University of Santo Tomas and finished his Licenciado en Medicina in 1895. He practices his profession in Manila and Bulacan.

In July 1892, when he was a medical student and the Katipunan was barely a week old, he joined this secret organization. He became a close friend of its founder, Andrés Bonifacio, and was godfather to the Supremo’s and Gregoria de Jesús’s first child. After their house burned down, Bonifacio and his family lived with Valenzuela in the latter’s house.

He was elected fiscal of the secret society in December 1895. He was inducted together with the other elected officials at Bonifacio's home on New Year's Day in 1896. Shortly after his induction, Valenzuela moved to San Nicolas district in Manila so he could supervise the publication of the secret society's official organ. Valenzuela claimed in his memoirs that he was supposed to be the editor of the publication but Emilio Jacinto would eventually be the one to supervise its printing.

Valenzuela said he was the one who suggested the name Kalayaan (Freedom) for the publication. To mislead the Spanish authorities, he also suggested that they place the name of Marcelo H. del Pilar as editor and Yokohama, Japan as the place of publication.

Kalayaan's first number, dated January 18, 1896, came out in March 1896 and consisted of a thousand copies which was distributed to Katipunan members all over the country. However, the publication only came out with one more issue because the Katipunan had already been uncovered by the Spanish authorities. He considered the publication of Kalayaan as the most important accomplishment of the secret chamber of the Katipunan, which he claimed consisted of himself, Bonifacio and Jacinto.

In a meeting of the secret chamber in July 1896, they decided to assassinate the Spanish Augustinian friar who uncovered the Katipunan to the authorities, but they failed to accomplish the mission. Valenzuela also claimed that after the discovery of the Katipunan, he and Bonifacio distributed letters implicating wealthy Filipinos, who refused to extend financial assistance to the Katipunan.

He was a member of the committee that was tasked to smuggle arms for the Katipunan from Japan. He was also with Bonifacio, Jacinto and Procopio Bonifacio when they organized the Katipunan council in Cavite. At the secret general meeting called by Bonifacio on the night of May 1, 1896 at Barrio Ugong in Pasig, Valenzuela presented to the body a proposal to solicit contributions to buy arms and munitions from Japan. The proposal was approved on condition that it first be approved by José Rizal, who was in exile in Dapitan in Mindanao.

Valenzuela was tasked to discuss the matter with Rizal and he left for Dapitan on June 15, 1896. However, Rizal told him that the revolution should not be started until sufficient arms had been secured and the support of the wealthy Filipinos had been won over. When the Katipunan was discovered, he fled to Balintawak on August 20, 1896, but he later availed of an amnesty that the Spanish colonial government offered and he surrendered on September 1, 1896. He was deported to Spain where he was tried and imprisoned in Madrid. He was later transferred to Málaga, Barcelona and then to a Spanish outpost in Africa. He was incarcerated for about two years.

He returned to the Philippines in April 1899. In Manila, he was denounced to the American Military authorities as a radical propagandist and once more imprisoned up September of the same year. To suppress aggressive leadership upon his release, he was made municipal president of Polo. From 1902 to 1919, he served as president of the military division of his district. From 1919 to 1925, he served the people of Bulacan for two terms as provincial executive. As governor, he was uncompromising against graft and corruption in the government.

After he retired from politics, he wrote his memoirs on the revolutionary days. He also practiced his medical profession, but only for philanthropic purposes. He was married to Marciana Castro by whom he had seven children. Early in the morning of April 6, 1956, he died in his hometown.

The stamp above was issued in 1974.

Mariano Ponce on Stamps

Mariano Ponce (March 23, 1863 – May 23, 1918), was a Filipino physician, writer, and active member of the Propaganda Movement. In Spain, he was among the founders of La Solidaridad and Asociacion Hispano-Filipino. Among his significant works was Efemerides Filipinas, a column on historical events in the Philippines which appeared in La Oceania Española (1892-1893) and El Ideal (1911-1912). He wrote Ang Wika at Lahi (1917), a discussion on the importance of a national language. He served as Bulacan's representative to the National Assembly.

Ponce was born in Baliwag, Bulacan where he completed his primary education. He later enrolled at the Colegio de San Juan de Letran and took up medicine at the University of Santo Tomas. In 1881, he traveled to Spain to continue his medical studies at the Unversidad Central de Madrid.

There he joined Marcelo del Pilar, Graciano López Jaena and José Rizal in the Propaganda Movement which espoused Filipino representation in the Spanish Cortes and reforms in the Spanish colonial authorities of the Philippines. He wrote in the propaganda publication La Solidaridad (The Solidarity).

Ponce was imprisoned when the revolution began on August 1896 but was later released. Fearing another arrest, he fled to France and later went to Hong Kong where he joined a group of Filipinos who served as the international front of the Philippine revolution.

In 1898, Emilio Aguinaldo chose him to represent the First Philippine Republic. He traveled to Japan to seek aid and purchase weapons. With the help of a Filipino-Japanese named José Ramos Ishikawa, Ponce purchased weapons and munition for the revolution. But the shipment did not reach the Philippines due to a typhoon off the coast of Formosa.

Mariano returned to Manila with his wife, a Japanese girl named Okiyo Udanwara. In 1909, he was made director of "El Renacimiento" (The Renaissance). He also joined the "Nacionalista Partido" (National Party) and established "El Ideal" (The Perfect), the party's official organization. Ponce later ran for a seat in the Philippine Assembly and was elected assemblyman for the second district of Bulacan. Ponce wrote his memoirs, "Cartas Sobre La Revolución" (Letters on the Revolution), he died in the Civil Hospital in Hong Kong, on May 23, 1918. His remains are now in the Cementerio del Norte, Manila.

The stamp above was issued on December 30,1970

Candido M. Africa on Stamps

Dr. Candido Macasaet Africa (1895-1945) was a doctor of medicine, scholar and researcher. His contributions to medical science made him internationally known and won “for the first time recognition of the Filipino scientist abroad, thus reflecting glory and honor upon calling and country.”

He was born in Lipa, Batangas on October 2, 1895. After graduation from the College of Medicine of the University of the Philippines, he taught at the Department of Parasitology, School of Hygiene and Public Health of the same college. He became associate professor and head of the department in 1932.

It was while teaching at the state university that he became involved in scientific research. In all, he wrote 69 scientific articles, some of which he co-authored with his colleagues Walfrido de Leon, E.Y. Garcia, P.G. Refuezo, F.J. Dy, J. Soriano, J.O. Nolasco, S.F. Sta. Cruz and A.V. Vasquez Colet. Among his important works were “ The Progress of Medical Science In The Philippines,” “An Anthropod Associated with Chronic Dermatitis Involving The Face,” “Three Cases of Insect Bites Involving Triatoma Rubrofasciata,” and “The Occurrence of Bartiella in Man, Monkey and Dog in the Philippines.” Much of his researches dealt with parasites that caused heart failure. He also worked on their effects on the other parts of human body. Finally, he undertook research on the causes and prevention of malaria.

In the course of his researches, he discovered four human flukes that attach themselves to the heart, resulting in disease and eventually death. This discovery was hailed as a significant contribution to medical science as it greatly benefited heart patients.

To improve his scientific skills, Dr. Africa at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and graduated with the Degree of Tropical Medicine in 1929. That same year he became a Fellow in the Tropen Institute of Humburg, Germany. A year later, he received a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation. It allowed him to attend the Harvard Medical School at Cambridge, Massachusetts and John Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland in 1930-1931.

In recognition of his extensive contributions to scientific research, his works were compiled in special books and were exhibited in 1937, during the silver jubilee of Dr. Sadao Yosida of the Institute for Research in Microbic Diseases of the Osaka Imperial University of Japan. In the same year, his works were also exhibited at the silver jubilee of Professor Sadamu Yokogawa of the Taihoku Imperial University in Formosa (now Taiwan) and in the 30th year of the professorship of Dr. K.J. Skrajabin of the All-Union Institute of Helminthology in Moscow, Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, In 1938, in the silver jubilee of the professorship of Dr. Lauro Travassos of the Institute of Oswaldo Cruz in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, his works were also displayed.

Dr. Africa was known all over the world all over the works for his researches. This allowed him to visit leading laboratories undertaking experiments in parasitology in London, Liverpool, Edinburgh, Paris, Utrecht, Hamburg, Berlin, Vienna, Rome, and in other cities in Europe. He represented the Philippine Commonwealth at the Third International Congress of Microbiologist held in New York City, U.S.A., on September 1939. At this international gathering of well-known scientist, he read a monograph entitled, “Visceral Complications in Intestinal Heterophydiasis of Man.”

His other valuable works include “Certain Developmental Stages of Ascaris Lumbriocoides Ova in Live Tissue,” “Prelimanary Reports in Cystercerous Cellulose in Man,” “Notes on Malaria,”.

Dr. Africa’s activities, however, were not only confined to laboratory work. He was also an active member of scientific and technical organizations, Like the American Society of Parasitologists, the Philippine Scientific Society and the National Research Council of which he was a charter member. He was also a member of the Association of Tropical Medicine, the Philippine Medical Association, The Phi Kappa Phi , the Society For The Advancement of Research, and the Manila Medical Society.

As an authority on heart disease, he was written up in the 1938 editions of American Men of Science and in Who’s Who among Physicians and Surgeons. As an outstanding alumnus of the University of the Philippines, he was acclaimed one of the best scientists the state university had ever produced. In accordance with the recommendation of the Board of Citizens and the Board of Directors of the U.P. Alumni Association, he was awarded the Gold Medal of Merit and was conferred a Diploma of Honor for distinguished achievements in the field of parasitology.

He continued to serve in the government until the war broke out in 1941. He was a known figure among the Japanese military officers during the occupation of Manila but unfortunately he was one of those civilians who died in the battle of the liberation of Manila on February 12, 1945. His colleagues did not forget him. In the General Session of the Philippine Medical Association held in Manila on May 8, 1946, Doctor Africa was honored with a citation naming him a great doctor and scientist.

The stamp above was issued on June 1, 1995.

Magsaysay: Healing with Music and Medicine

He was playing Mozart on the piano, his fingers caressing the keys like a lover. Piano was his first love, his first teacher was Anita Cabahug Trasmonte who rapped his wrists and knuckles to keep them in line. Be a doctor, his father, Engr. Vic Avanzado, told him, don’t be a musician. And because he was a good son, he obeyed his father.

Now Vicente Avanzado Jr. is a full-fledged doctor of medicine, in fact a fellow and a diplomate in Gastroenterology.

Goodlooking with a smiling personality and yes, he still plays the piano.

Beautifully. Music "relaxes and inspires" him and he believes "music and medicine are alike, both need continuous study and both can heal." To celebrate Ting’s successful entry into the rarefied medical clique of fellows (he completed his fellowship at U.E. Ramon Magsaysay Memorial Medical Center) and of diplomates (passed both oral and written exams given by the Philippine Society of Gastroenterology and the Philippine Society of Digestive Endoscopy), Nestor and Gingging Morelos called together kissing cousins and special friends to share their joy. Lechonada, roast calf, the works.

Congratulating Nestor, he asked, why me? Why not Nestor indeed? He is a genial host, has the salesman’s glib camaraderie, a marvelous sense of humor and he simply dotes on Ting, his son-in-law. Gingging, sparkling and bubbly like champagne, likewise adores Inting but most of all she loves Grace, warm and loving, the apple of their eyes upon whom the sun rises and sets who is so full of grace, blessed with the good sense and sensibility to choose the ideal man for her husband.

Kissing cousins are the Garcia clan, Gingging and Nestor having practically become an extended family. Nothing but the impressive baronial residence of former DOTC Secretary Sonny and Armi Garcia, would serve as the perfect setting for the party. Up in Windy Hills, the massive manse of plate glass and concrete overlooked a grand view of city lights, a dazzling scatter of multi-colored gems strewn below. Ninette Garcia, never looking as lovely, was showing off a new fashion find.

Modeling for Lotlot and Sandy Neri’s (Nelia’s daughters-in-law) latest discovery, blouses with a magical twist. Made from the banana fiber, similar to pinokpok but wrinkle-free and dyed in such attractive colors, the blouses are convertible as Ninette prancing prettily twisted them into kimonos, halter tops, off the shoulder shawls, strapless bustiers. Ninette’s own daughter-in-law Christine, who turns out bridal tiaras that are sold out in the States, passed on the info that TV celebrity Martha Stewart, wore such a blouse and gave it an enthusiastic blurb on her TV show.

Special friends of Ting and Grace who turned out for the celebration are colleagues Dr. Renald and Araceli Ramiro, Dr. Evan and Nenette Mendoza, Dr. Manjo and Dr. Leah Villamor, Dr. Ron Eullaran. Ginging’s own special friends with whom she shares common interests from analyzing gospel truths in the Bible, to the dreadful prospect of osteoporosis, alzheimers, arthritis in the foreseeable future were in happy attendance: Tita Zosa, Sony Velez, Gloria Bacay, Remy Barrera, Laling Javier, Violy Nacar, Vilma Hermosisima, among them and at finger-waving distance, Anita San Jose looking simply gorgeous in turquoise, she rated second looks. ‘Kissingest’ cousin of all and my own special friend was Inday Vivera Muñasque.

Been ages since I last saw Inday and except for a few smile lines around the eyes and mouth, she looks still looks like the absolute living doll she was when she was my bridesmaid over 50 years ago. Keeping track of her career and family life through the years proved to be as difficult keeping pace with her breathless mile-a-minute narration. She had been Director of the National Library, a something or other with Ayala Museum, the consultant of the military library and now a commissioner of the National Commission of Arts and Culture. An early morning call from Sonny Osmeña for assistance in research of the First Philippine Assembly, another call from Annie Aboitiz, with whom Inday shared an apartment in New York. Glossing over my busybody query about Stimson (yes, they’re great friends again) and how it feels to be an instant multi-millionaire (she and siblings inherited from her parents), she enthused instead about brother Dodong now retired from his medical practice in Park Avenue but still keeps his plush digs in New York, travels everywhere, haunts book stores, art galleries, gourmet restaurants, and music concerts. Sister Nena, now a widowed Lola in the West Coast, keeps up with her daughter Mary who served in the Peace Corps in South America, gone skin diving in coral reefs all over, paddled a banca all the way down to the simmering crater of Taal Volcano. An intrepid spirit after my own heart. Couldn’t gloss over my own nostalgia for Ramona’s hojaldres like no other and will never be like any other hojaldre ever. Although Inday and Dodong both have their mother’s secret recipe for the hojaldres they no longer have the time nor the inclination to resurrect the old glory of Ramona’s hojaldres. A pity…

By Jo Magsaysay
Whatever
Reprinted from Sunstar Cebu August 31, 2006 issue

The National Anthem of Lithuania

This former Soviet state was the first republic to break away from the Soviet Union, in early 1990. Upon its independence, it readopted the anthem, "Tautiska Giesme", it first used in 1918 which first appeared in print in 1896.

Vincas Kudirka, a Lithuanian poet and physician, and the author of both the music and lyrics of the Lithuanian National Anthem, Tautiška giesmė, was born on 31 December 1858. He is regarded in Lithuania as a National Hero. Kudirka used pen names - V. Kapsas, Paežerių Vincas, Vincas Kapsas, P.Vincas,Varpas, Q.D, K., V.K, Perkūnas.

He began studying history and philosophy in Warsaw in 1881, but changed his major and began studying medicine the following year. During his studies, he was arrested as a subversive for having a copy of Das Kapital in his possession, and was expelled from the University of Warsaw, but later re-admitted. He graduated in 1889, and worked as a country doctor in Šakiai and Naumiestis.

Kudirka began writing poetry in 1888. Simultaneously he became more active in the Lithuanian national rebirth movement. Together with other Lithuanian students in Warsaw, he founded the secret society Lietuva ("Lithuania"). The following year the society began publishing the clandestine newspaper Varpas ("The Bell"), which Kudirka edited and contributed to for the next ten years. In issue number 6 of Varpas, in September 1898, he published the text of Tautiška Giesmė, which would officially become in 1918, the Lithuanian National Anthem, set to music written by Kudirka himself for a violin.

Kudirka gave much to Lithuanian culture, and also published a collection of Lithuanian popular songs. He was also a noted writer of satire.

He died of tuberculosis on November 16, 1899, at age 40. The second verse of Tautiška Giesmė was engraved on his gravestone.