Sultan Dipatuan Kudarat on Stamps

Muhammad Dipatuan Kudarat (also spelled Qudarat) (1581–1671) was a Sultan of Maguindanao in the Philippines. During his reign, he successfully opposed the Spaniards who attempted to conquer his villages and hindered the Christianization of the island of Mindanao. He was a direct descendant of Shariff Kabungsuan, a Muslim missionary who brought Islam to the Philippines between the 13th and 14th century. The Philippine province of Sultan Kudarat is named after him.

After succeeding his father in 1619, he defeated several tribes and proclaimed his kingdom as the Datu (king) of the Pulangui region. He also governed a settlement in what is now Cagayan de Oro, Caraga, and established Misamis and Bukidnon as his tributaries. He also made friendly relations with the Spaniards and the Dutch, however the Spaniards tried to conquer his tribes, but failed and were forced to ransom their soldiers from the sultan. Governor-General Alonso Fajardo signed a treaty with Kudarat on June 25, 1645 which allowed Spanish missionaries to established Christianity in Mindanao, allowing a church built, and trade in the sultan’s territories.

Date of Issue: January 13, 1975

Tarhata Kiram on Stamps

Princess Tarhata Kiram, (1904-1979). Like the slender curves of a Moro kris, her name conjures the image of Oriental grace and fierceness. Princess Hadja Tarhata Kiram was a Tausug blue blood, born in 1904 in the Sulu archipelago, the oldest sultanate in the Philippines. Her father was the sultan of Sulu, Mohammed Esmali Kiram. She was, however, adopted by her uncle, Sultan Jamalul Kiram II.

Strong-willed and liberal-minded, she held feminist views that preceded those espoused by the modern women’s liberation movement in the Philippines by decades. Known for her beauty, she one graced the cover of the Philippine Free Press magazine. Her life style, too, was jaw-dropping. It seemed that wherever she went her retinue led by a governess trailed not far behind her. As a young woman brimming with intellect, she was sent to the United States in 1920 as the first woman pensionado. As expected, her entourage accompanied her. At a time when women were generally considered as home keepers, her choice must have created quite a stir in the Philippines.

She finished her studies at the University of Illinois. Her American education over, she returned to Sulu. Except for the noticeable accent, the Princess reverted to her native ways. She donned anew the sablay and sawwa, traditional Tausug dresses. Not stopping there, however, she shocked not only the American officers but her family as well when she married Datu Tahil, Tausug leader of the 1927 Moro revolt in Sulu. Because of this, she was forced to go on exile on an island where she remained for three years, resurfacing only in 1931 when she joined local politics.

Opposition to land taxes, the cedula, the imposition of penalties for tax delinquencies, and the prohibition against the carrying of weapons fueled Datu Tahil’s uprising in Sulu in 1927. A veteran of the 1913 battle of Bud Bagsak, where he lost his wife and child, Datu Tahil had reconciled to American authority. He had served as the third member of the provincial board of Sulu and was considered as a prospective governor. His disappointment at not being appointed to the post may have precipitated his personal break with the government. He constructed a fort in Patikul, not far from Jolo town, where a sizeable number of his followers rallied behind him. On January 31, 1927, government troops attacked his fort, killing 30 to 40 of his men. Datu Tahil managed to escape, but secretly surrendered on February 8, to the provincial governor. Princess Tarhata pleaded for clemency, and he was sentenced to 10 years in prison and fined P10, 000. His surrender enraged his surviving followers. His sisters, purportedly, wished him dead.

Princess Tarhata had two other marriages: to Datu Buyungan and to Salvador Francisco, a Christian lawyer, accountant and engineer. In politics, she found ways to plug the laws disadvantageous to the Muslims. She was consultant on Islamic affairs at the office of the commissioner, Region 9, under Rear Admiral Romulo Espaldon. She became noted for her contributions to the government’s development activities in Mindanao.

She was one of the heirs of the island of Sabah, which the Sultan of Sulu had leased to the British but which the British never returned. The Princess led the other royal heirs in renouncing their proprietary rights over the island in July 1977, in line with President Marcos’ efforts to foster closer relations with Malaysia.

The Princess proved herself not only in politics, but also in music, writing Tausug songs. “Jolo Farewell” was among her most popular compositions. One of her memorable political battles was her denunciation in 1927 together with Senator Hadji Butu Rasul of the Bacon Bill, which sought to exclude the Sulu archipelago from Mindanao.

Princess Tarhata died of heart failure on May 23, 1979 at the Veterans Memorial hospital in Quezon City. She was 75. She had two children: Puti Denchurain and Datu Agham Kiram. As a tribute to her courage in fighting for the rights of her fellow Muslims, the National Historical Institute honored her by placing a marker in her name in Jolo, Sulu in 1984.

Date of Issue: January 16, 1984

Teodoro Kalaw on Stamps

Teodoro M. Kalaw (1884-1940) was one of the most outstanding trilingual writers and historians of the Philippines. He was born on March 31, 1884 in the town of Lipa, Batangas.

He was first and foremost a bibliophile and he specialized in the collection of original documents, which became the basis for much of his historical research. He was a true Renaissance man, at various times he was a journalist, publisher, government bureacrat and elected public official.

As a teen he collected revolutionary leaflets and newspapers and built a small collection of papers centered on the revolution. Among those papers were those of Apolinario Mabini and the most valuable was the record of the Andres Bonifacio trial.

He finished his law degree in Manila and became the youngest editor of El Renacimiento, an extreme nationalist newspaper. At that time the nationalist struggle moved underground to the free press and he was its prime exponent. His editorials staunchly defended the national interest and he became an arch-critic of the the American colonial regime In 1908 he was sued for libel by the then Secretary of Interior Dean Conant Worcester for having published a blind editorial called "Aves de Rapiña" or "Birds of Prey."

The October 30, 1908 editorial thundered:" The Eagle, symbolizing liberty and strength, had found the most admirers--and men oollectively and individually, have desired to copy and imitate this most rapacious of birds in order to triumph in the plundering of their fellowmen. But there is a man who, besides being like the eagle, also has the characteristics of a vulture, the owl and the vampire. He ascends the mountains of Benguet ostensible to classify and measure Igorot skulls, to study and to civilize the Igorots but at the same time he also espies during his flight, with the keen eye of the bird of prey, were the large deposits of gold are, the real prey...and then he appropriates these all to himself afterwards, thanks to the legal facilities he can make and unmake at will, always however redounding to his benefit."

Dean Worcester felt quite certain that the editorial alluded to him, as he was not only Secretary of Interior, he was the Chief of the Bureau of Non-Christian Tribes which he had set up for the express purpose of surveying tribal lands and studying their indigenous peoples. The editorial although written in Spanish was so daring because it accused the "Eagle" of corruption and using public office for personal gain.

Worcester sued both the publisher Martin Ocampo and the young editor. The case dragged before the courts for two years when finally the judge found the Filipinos guilty and ordered them to pay damages of P60,000. The newspaper was forced to close down, but immediately the duo of Ocampo and Kalaw started another nationalist newspaper La Vanguardia. Years later Teodoro Kalaw would reveal that he had never even written the editorial. It was his fellow journalist Fidel Reyes.

Notwithstanding his notoriety, Kalaw was still able to run for and win a seat at the Philippine Assembly. Such was his popularity among Filipinos that he even ssumed Worcester's position as Secretary of Interior in 1920. Subsequently, Kalaw became director of the National Library, writing in his spare time historical essays. Most of his writings have been compiled into pamphlets and books. Don Teodoro wrote in Tagalog, Spanish, and English.

Historical writings 1900s to 1940 were so dominated by him, that the Philippines' leading historian Teodoro Agoncillo considered this period as the "Age of Kalaw." Teodoro M. Kalaw's literary output was so prolific that later generations of Filipinos considered him the father of Philippine libraries. He died in 1940.

Date of Issue: March 31, 1984

Emilio Jacinto on Stamps

Emilio Jacinto (15 December 1875 – 16 April 1899) was known as the “Brains of the Katipunan.” He was a Filipino revolutionary and writer.

Jacinto was born on 15 December 1875 in Trozo, Tondo, Manila to Mariano Jacinto and Josefa Dizon. His father having died shortly after he was born, Jacinto was sent to live with his uncle, Don Jose Dizon. He was educated in both Spanish and Filipino and attended the Colegio de San Juan Letran. He later transferred to the University of Santo Tomas where he studied law; however, he did not finish the course.

At the age of 19, Jacinto joined the Katipunan and became one of its leaders. He served as Andres Bonifacio's secretary and fiscal, and also supervised the manufacture of gunpowder to be used by the Katipuneros in battle. A gifted writer, Jacinto also became the editor of Ang Kalayaan, the newspaper of the Katipunan. He wrote the Kartilya ng Katipunan which contains the rules and regulations of the movement. He also wrote the poem “A La Patria,” which was inspired by Dr. Jose Rizal's Mi Ultimo Adios, under the pen name of Dimas Ilaw.

Jacinto was mortally wounded in a battle in Majayjay, Laguna and died on 16 April 1899 at the age of 24. His remains were later transferred to the Manila North Cemetery.

Date of Issue: December 15, 1975

Felix Resurreccion Hidalgo on Stamps

Félix Resurrección Hidalgo y Padilla (21 February 1855 - 13 March 1913) was a Filipino artist. He is acknowledged as one of the great Filipino painters of the late 19th century, and is significant in Philippine history for having been an acquaintance and inspiration for members of the Philippine reform movement which included José Rizal, Marcelo del Pilar, Mariano Ponce and Graciano López Jaena, although he neither involved himself directly in that movement, nor later associate himself with the First Philippine Republic under Emilio Aguinaldo.

His winning the silver medal in the 1884 Madrid Exposition of Fine Arts, along with the gold win of fellow Filipino painter Juan Luna, prompted a celebration which was a major highlight in the memoirs of members of the Philippine reform movement, with Rizal toasting to the two painters' good health and citing their win as evidence that Filipinos and Spaniards were equals.

Hidalgo was born in Binondo Manila on February 21, 1855. He was the third of seven children of Eduardo Resurrección Hidalgo and Maria Barbara Padilla. He studied in the University of Santo Tomas. He studied law, which he never finished, received a bacheller en filosifia in March 1871. He was simultaneously enrolled at the Escuela de Dibujo y Pintura. In 1876, he previewed his La banca (The Native Boat), Vendadora de lanzones (Lanzones Vendor) and other paintings at the Teatro Circo de Bilibid before they were sent to the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania of that year. In 1878, he painted the poignant and well-crafted Los mendigos (The Beggars).

In 1877, Resurreccion Hidalgo was awarded second place in the contest for best cover design for the de luxe edition of Fr. Manuel Blanco's Flora de Filipinas ("Plants of the Philippines"). In 1879 he left for Spain as a pensionado in fine arts of the Ayuntamiento of Manila.

His Las virgenes Cristianas expuestas al populacho (The Christian virgins Exposed to the Populace), was awarded the ninth silver medal at the 1884 Exposición General de Bellas Artes in Madrid. This showed a group of boorish looking males mocking semi-naked female slaves, one of whom is seated in the foreground, with head bowed in misery. In the same exposition Luna's Spoliarium was awarded a gold medal.

In the Exposición General de las Islas Filipinas in Madrid in 1887, Resurrección Hidalgo presented La barca de Aqueronte ("The Boat of Charon"),1887, and Laguna estigia ("The Styx"), 1887, for which he received a gold medal. La barca was again shown at the Exposition Universelle in Paris and was awarded a silver medal by an international jury. In 1891 it was accorded a diploma of honor at the Exposición General de Bellas Artes of Barcelona. This painting also received a gold medal in the International Exposition of Fine Arts in Madrid during the commemoration of the 400th anniversary of the discovery of America.

He exhibited Adios al sol ("Farewell to, the Sun"), 1891 at the Exposición Internacional de Bellas Artes in Madrid in that year and El crepusculo ("The Dawn"), 1893, at the Universal exposition in Chicago, also in that year. He showed both paintings again at the Exposición Artistica de Bilbao in August 1894. In the Exposición Regional de Filipinas in Manila in January 1895, Resurrección Hidalgo was represented by his paintings done in the grand romantic manner. In April of the same year he exhibited Oedipus y Antigone ("Oedipus and Antigone"), El violinista ("The Violinist"), Cabeza napolitana ("Head of a Neapolitan"), Cabeza del viejo ("Head of an Old Man"), Un religioso ("A Religious"), and others at the Salon at Champs Elysees, Paris.

Hidalgo received a gold medal for his overall participation at the Universal Exposition in St. Louis, Missouri in 1904. His El violinista was individually accorded a gold medal. In 1912, he visited his relatives in Manila for six months, after which he hurried back to Paris. His mother, who had not seen him for 30 years, wanted him to be with her in her last days but he had to leave. The following year, Resurrección Hidalgo died at Sarrià, Barcelona where he went to recuperate from failing health. His remains were brought to Manila, where it now lies entombed in the family mausoleum at the Cementerio del Norte.

Date of Issue June 15, 1988

Fernando Ma. Guerrero on Stamps

Fernando María Guerrero (1873-1929) is one of the most outstanding Filipino poet, journalist, politician, lawyer, polyglot and educator during the Philippine's golden era of Spanish literature, a period ranging from 1890 to the outbreak of World War II.

Guerrero wrote during the years 1898 to 1900. As a lawyer-educator he taught natural law, criminology and forensic oratory. He served as chairman of the board of examiners at the law school La Jurisprudencia. He was a Manila councilor, Secretary of the Senate and Secretary of the Philippine Independence Commission. He was also a director of the Academia de Leyes. Apart from Spanish, Guerrero spoke Latin and Greek. He was once an editor of El Renacimiento, La Vanguardia and La Opinion. He was a member of the First Philippine Assembly, the Academia Filipina and also became an appointee to the Municipal Board of Manila.

He was also a correspondent to the association Real Española de Madrid. His book of Spanish poems, Crisalidas, was published in 1914, which was considered as one of the ten best books written about the Philippines by the Enciclopedia Filipinas. His other poems written after the year 1914 appeared in a compilation called Aves y Flores.

Guerrero died on June 12, 1929, coinciding with that year's anniversary of the Philippine Republic. A school in Malate, Manila, Philippines was named after him in his honor.

Date of Issue: May 31, 1974

Maria Paz Mendoza Guanzon on Stamps

Maria Paz Mendoza Guazon, a medical practitioner, educator, scientist, writer, social reformer, feminist, philanthropist and civic leader, was the first woman doctor of the Philippines and the first woman in the history of the University of the Philippines College of Medicine.

She was an outstanding socio-civic leader and the founder of several women's organizations as well as an educator.

In 1912, she was the first woman to graduate from the U.P. College of Medicine. Dr. Mendoza-Guazon excelled in her researches in pathology and was known for her philanthropic work.

Maria Paz Mendoza Guanzon was born on May 10, 1884 in Pandacan, Manila. She was also the founder of the National League of Filipino Women, and was the first woman member of the Board of Regents of the University of the Philippines.

In 1951 she awarded a gold medal and an Award of Merit in 1963. She is a member in many organizations. She received three distinctive awards last year. The Philippine Federation of Private Medical Practitioners gave her the Distinguished Senior Physician Award on March 3, 1966. On April 30, 1966, she received the Presidential Merit Award. On May, 1966, she was conferred the degree of Doctor of Humanities (Honoris Causa) by the Centro Escolar University. She also earned an honorable mention from the Premio Zobel in 1930 for her work Notas de Viaje.

Date of Issue: May 26, 1984

Jose Gozar on Stamps

Lt. Jose "Pepe" Gozar was a young pilot whose bravery in the air battles of World War II earned him the Distinguished Flying Cross for Heroism. He was on his wasy from Mindoro to Leyte to join Gen. Douglas MacArthur's forces when he was captured and executed by the Japanese.

Pepe, was born in Calapan, Oriental Mindoro, on April 8, 1918; son of Juan Gozar and Calixta Cangco. He completed his elementary schooling and graduated as salutatorian from the Mindoro High School in March, 1936.

He enrolled at the University of the Philippines College of Commerce and worked as a student assistant in the College. After completing the required units, he enlisted in the Air Corps, Philippine Army, in April, 1938; entered the Flying School in October, 1938 and graduated in 1940. He served as instructor in the Flying School at Zablan Air Field until the outbreak of the war on December 8, 1941.

With Captain Collin Kelly and Col. Jesus Villamor, he received a citation from Gen. Douglas MacArthur for "his display of courage and leadership," for shooting down two Japanese bombers during the war. Together with a friend, also from the Air Corps, Lt. Gozar joined the army in Bataan and Corregidor for the last stand of the Philippine Army. He escaped the infamous "Death March"; tried to reach Mindanao with the hope of reaching Australia by any means of transportation. The Japs placed a fabulous price on his head as an army aviator...unsurrendered. At Bacolod, Negros Occidental, he had misunderstandings with the guerillas who suspected him to be a Japanese spy.

Sending danger and liquidation, he left on a sailboat with two friends. Caught by storm on the open sea, he abandoned the little craft and swam to the shore with one of his companions. He was captured and executed by the Japanese in 1944.

Date of Issue: October 20, 1955

Bienvenido Ma. Gonzales on Stamps

Bienvenido Maria Gonzales was a two-term president of the University of the Philippines.

Gonzales was born on November 22, 1893 in Apalit, Pampanga. His father was the illustrious Joaquin Gonzales, the rector of Universidad Literaria de Filipinas, the first institution of higher learning that was created by President Emilio Aguinaldo during the Philippine Revolution.

He took up agriculture at the same state university and pursued further studies as one of the first Filipino pensionados at the University of Wisconsin, where he obtained a master in science. He took up doctoral studies at John Hopkins University.

Upon his return to the Philippines, he was named an assistant professor of animal husbandry at the university and reached tenure in just six years. He was promoted to become the department head, followed by successive stints as dean of the College of Agriculture in 1928.

He was appointed the sixth president of the University of the Philippines in 1939, amidst opposition because of his animal breeding provenance. At 46 years old, he was the youngest ever to be named UP president and he was the very first alumnus to be so honored. His term was characterized by his open attitude to students and faculty and the encouragement of the use of Tagalog as a national language.

He encouraged the establishment of a UP College of Nursing. Along with Juan Nakpil, future National Artist, and UP Music Conservatory director Ramon Tapales, he conceived the UP Carillon in 1940.

Upon the outbreak of World War II, he resigned from his position rather than serve under the Japanese. President Jose Laurel of the 2nd republic designated Antonio Sison as his successor. When the Philippine Commonwealth was re-established in 1945, Dr. Gonzales was reappointed as the eighth president. He holds the distinction of being the only 2-term head of the state university.

Dr. Gonzales' second term was characterized by extreme difficulty and poverty. The Diliman campus which had been just recently inaugurated before the war lay in shambles. The Padre Faura campus was destroyed. Libraries and laboratories were lost. He made the momentous decision to transfer the bulk of the university's operations to the then distant and barren area of Diliman, insisting that the bulk of new construction be located on the 493 hectare area donated by the Tuason Family. Amidst attacks from media and opposition figures, he persisted with his vision and succeeded in having the United States War Damage Commission pay P13 million for rehabilitation and construction.

Dr. Gonzales had strong opinions, even against the the incumbent Philippine President Elpidio Quirino. He lobbied for the disapproval of an honorary degree conferment on Indonesia President Sukarno. He invited the president's chief critic Senator Claro M. Recto to speak at the commencement exercises. He refused to accept the Philippine president's offer to join the cabinet. He resigned from his position in 1951.

He died two years after on December 30, 1953.

Date of Issue: June 1, 1990

Elpidio R. Quirino on Stamps

Elpidio Rivera Quirino (November 16, 1890 – February 29, 1956) was the sixth President of the Philippines. The abrupt death of President Manuel Roxas brought Elpidio Quirino to presidency. Upon his ascent, Quirino brought with him tremendous experience as public servant, having been a cabinet member, a representative, and a senator during previous regimes. Quirino served as president from April 17, 1948 to December 30, 1953.

Born in Vigan, Ilocos Sur to Mariano Quirino and Gregoria Rivera, a Spanish-mestiza, Quirino spent his early years in Aringay, La Union. He received secondary education at Vigan High School, then went to Manila where he worked as junior computer in the Bureau of Lands and as property clerk in the Manila police department. He graduated from Manila High School in 1911 and also passed the civil service examination, first-grade.

Quirino attended the University of the Philippines in 1915, earning his law degree and practicing law until he was elected as member of the Philippine House of Representatives from 1919 to 1925, then as senator from 1925 to 1931. He then served as secretary of finance and secretary of the interior in the Commonwealth government.

In 1934, Quirino was a member of the Philippine Independence mission to Washington D.C., headed by Manuel Quezon that secured the passage in the United States Congress of the Tydings-McDuffie Act. This legislation set the date for Philippine independence by 1945. Official declaration came on July 4, 1946.

During the Japanese invasion during World War II, he became a leader of the underground rebellion and was captured and imprisoned. He suffered the execution of his wife, Alicia Syquía, and three of his five children by the Japanese conquerors.

After the war, Quirino continued public service, becoming president pro tempore of the senate. In 1946, he was elected first vice president of the independent Republic of the Philippines, serving under Manuel Roxas. He also served as secretary of state.

Quirino retired to private life in Quezon City, Manila. He died of a heart attack on February 29, 1956. His death anniversary is observed on February 28.

Date of Issue: June1, 1990

Guillermo E. Tolentino on Stamps

Guillermo Estrella Tolentino (1890-1976) is the "Father of Philippine Arts", a product of the Revival period in Philippine art. He also is the fourth director of the UP School of Fine Arts.

Tolentino was named National Artist in Sculpture in 1973. He first attained National recognition for his masterpiece, the multi-figural Bonifacio Monument in Caloocan City- the symbol of the Filipinos' cry for freedom. His other famous work include the Oblation in the University of the Philippines-symbol of freedom at the campus, and the statue of Ramon Magsaysay in the lobby of the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) building.

His design for the Ramon Magsaysay Award the gold and bronze medals and the seal of the Republic of the Philippines made him the "National Artist for Sculpture" in 1973.

Date of Issue: June 1, 1990

Isabelo de los Reyes on Stamps

Isabelo de los Reyes, popularly known as " Don Belong", was a law graduate of the University of Santo Tomas majoring also in philosophy, history and anthropology. He was a Notary Public at age twenty-two. He was the founder and the first president of the first Labor Union in Manila. A founding member of the Philippines Independent Church, he also served as councilor of Manila for two years and finally as senator for six years.

Born to Elias de los Reyes and the poetess Leona Florentino in Vigan, Ilocos Sur, he attended schools in Vigan and Manila. He followed his mother's footsteps by initially turning to writing as a career and became a journalist, editor, and publisher in Manila.

At 6 years old, due to troubled marriage of his parents, Isabelo was entrusted to a rich relative, Meno Crisologo, who later enrolled him into a grammar school attached to their local seminary run by Augustinians.

In 1880, at age 16 he escaped to Manila where he finished Bachiller en Artes at the Colegio de San Juan de Letran. After that, he studied law, history and palaeography at the Pontifical University of Santo Tomas.

In 1887, at the age of 23, he won a silver medal at the Exposición Filipina in Madrid for a huge Spanish-language manuscript he called El folk-lore filipino. It was the same year Jose Rizal published his first novel, Noli Me Tangere in Berlin. As a teenager, he was inspired to write about the foundation of this "new science" concerned about el saber popular or folklore, as he read an appeal in Manila's Spanish newspaper La Oceania Española (founded 1877) asking readers to contribute articles to develop the science of el folk-lore, followed by a simple sketch of how this was to be done. Two months later Isabelo set to work not merely on folklore of Ilocos, but also on his future wife's township of Malabon on the outskirts of Manila, on the Central Luzon province of Zambales, and in general terms, what he called el folk-lore filipino. It became one of the greatest passions of his life. By 1886, just as the French was starting to pursue a national effort of applying the study of folklore on their own native tradition, Isabelo is already producing a manuscript for publishing.

After his father died he was obliged to support himself and did so while pursuing his passion in writing, he contributed to most of Manila's newspapers. And in 1889 he founded the first vernacular newspaper in the country, El Ilocano, , said to be the first such newspaper written solely in a Philippine vernacular. He continued to write and research extensively on Philippine history and culture.

As a journalist, he almost faced the firing squad for attracting the ire of Spanish authorities in highlighting Spanish church and governmental abuses. He turned his writings against the Americans when they took over in 1898, and took advantage of rapidly changing sentiments of the Spanish intelligentsia as they saw America taking over the remnants of the Spanish overseas empire. In Madrid, he published fortnightly Filipinas ante Europa with the editorial Logo: "Contra Norte-America, no; contra el imperialismo, sí, hasta la muerte!" ("Against the Americans, NO; against Imperialism, YES, till death!") It ran for 36 issues between 25 October 1899 and 10 June 1901. After closing (probably due to trouble with the authorities), it briefly reappeared as "El Defensor de Filipinas" which ran monthly from 1 July to 1 October 1901. But Don Belong isn't only a journalist; according to the chronicles of the Philippine Bible Society, he also helped in translating the Bible in Ilocano. He did this when he was detained, thus making him one of the few convicts to translate the Scriptures.

He was later jailed when he returned to the Philippines for inciting labor strikes against American business firms. Influenced by European socialism (specially during his imprisonment in Barcelona), as well as Marxism, Isabelo de los Reyes founded the first labor union in the country in 1902, the Unión Obrera Democrática Filipina, against what he perceived as the impending exploitation of Filipino labor by American capitalist institutions. In the same year, he, along with UNO members launched the Philippine Independent Church in response against the Catholic Church, and chose his fellow Ilocano compatriot, Gregorio Aglipay, as its first bishop.

In 1923, he won a Senate seat in an election against Elpidio Quirino, representing the Ilocos region. After his term, he went back to private life and dedicated the remainder of his life to religious writings for the Aglipayan church as an honorary bishop. Writing sermons and other Christian literature, he translated the bible and its various components into his native Ilocano. However, nearing death, he retracted and returned to Catholicism in 1938. De los Reyes was married and widowed three times and had 27 children.

The stamp was issued in May 4, 1982.