Felipe Agoncillo on Stamps

Felipe Agoncillo was an outstanding figure in Philippine diplomacy. He served on the Consultation Board of the Spanish Governor General but was later exiled to Jolo on charges that he was a filibuster, a suspect of revolutionary activities. He escaped and returned to Manila to join the revolution. He later served in several diplomatic posts for the Philippine Commonwealth and the Republic.

Agoncillo was born on May 26, 1859 in Taal, Batangas to Ramon Agoncillo and Gregoria Encarnacion. At an early age, his parents already noticed his brilliant mind. He enrolled at the Ateneo Municipal de Manila where he was a consistent honor high school student and later transferred to the Universidad de Santo Tomás where he obtained his law degree in 1879 with an excellent grade. He was granted a Licentiate in urisprudence with the highest honors. He returned to Taal to manage his family's properties after a year studying in Manila because his parents had both died.

Agoncillo was already a judge and at the age of 30 when he was married to Marcela Mariño, a daughter of a reputed family in the same town. Six daughters were born to them: Lorenza (Enchang), Gregoria (Goring), Eugenia (Nene), Marcela (Celing)—named after her mother because they thought she will be their last child, Adela, who died at the age of three and the youngest Maria (Maring), who was their last child to survive and died on July 6, 1995.

While in Taal, Agoncillo continued his legal services and gave charity to poor and oppressed Filipinos. He was so generous that he posted an inscription outside his office: "Free legal services to the poor anytime."

Having heard by the parish priest of his activities and for preaching patriotic ideas, he was accused as anti patriotic, anti religious and was described as filibustero or subversive. He was later recommended to the governor-general for deportation.

Forewarned by the plans of the governor-general, he sailed directly to Yokohama, Japan but briefly stayed and went to Hong Kong where he joined other Filipino exiles who found asylum when the revolution broke out in 1896. They temporarily sojourned at Morrison Hill Road in Wanchai and later became a refuge for exiled Filipino patriots.

When the signing of the Pact of Biak-na-Bato concluded, Gen. Aguinaldo joined to them. They initiated meetings in the Agoncillo residence on the months of April and March 1898 and Gen. Luna was one in the attendance.

After the signing of the truce, Agoncillo spearheaded the Central Revolutionary Committee and organized the propaganda office for General Aguinaldo's revolutionary government.

The Philippine Revolutionary Government commissioned Agoncillo as Minister Plenipotentiary to negotiate treaties with foreign governments. Agoncillo and Jose "Sixto" Lopez was sent to Washington, D.C., United States to lobby foreign entities that Filipinos are well civilized people and capable of maintaining stable government and to secure recognition of Philippine independence but US President William McKinley did not receive them. To gather sympathy to the Philippine cause, they addressed the American Episcopalian bishops.

After being ignored by the US president, Agoncillo proceeded to Paris, France to present the Philippine cause at the peace conference convened between Spain and the US, where a meeting was to be held to discuss Cuba and the Philippines. Agoncillo tried to submit a memorandum but again failed. The people behind the meeting did not want to have any official dealings with him. On December 10, 1898, the treaty was successfully signed. Subsequently, Agoncillo's diplomatic activity incurred sum of money that he had used up all his savings going from one country to another presenting the case of the Philippines that he had even sacrificed his wife's jewelry.

Two days after the signing of the Treaty of Paris, Agoncillo returned to the United States and endeavored to block ratification of the treaty by the US. Although this was signed by the commissioners, it was not yet approved by the Senate of the United States. He filed a State memorandum to express that Filipinos must be recognized by the United States.

Agoncillo's conclusion about the treaty was that it was not binding on the Philippine government. In the memorandum, he clearly stated the reasons why Spain had no right to transfer the Philippines to the United States and that when the treaty was signed, Spain no longer held the Filipinos. At that time, many Americans were also against the treaty, so they established the Anti-Imperialist League which opposed making the Philippines a colony of the United States. Afterwards, on February 4, 1899, the Philippine–American War began; this turned on approval of the treaty of Paris.

On August 29, 1900, he met with Gustave Moynier, an original member of the Committee of Five and ICRC President. Agoncillo sought recognition of the Filipino Red Cross Society as well as the application of the First Geneva Convention during the Philippine–American War.

When hostilities ended between Filipinos and Americans, he returned to Hong Kong and rejoined the exiled junta. Later, on July 15, 1901, after American rule was firmly established in Manila,he went back to the Philippines as a poor man and lived in his house in Malate, Manila together with his family.

While in Manila, he resumed his law practice and other business. He took the bar exam in 1905 and passed with a perfect score of 100 percent, an achievement which has remained unmatched until today. His examination papers have been preserved in the Filipiniana section of the Philippine Library and Museum.

In 1907, he was elected as the Batangas representative and represented that town, among others, in the Philippine Assembly. He was once a defense of El Renacimiento whose editors were charged with libel by Dean C. Worcester. De Agoncillo was appointed as Secretary of Interior in 1923 during the administration of Governor General Leonard Wood and fought for the Filipinization of the government service. Agoncillo died on September 29, 1941 in Manila Doctor's Hospital, Manila.

The stamp above was issued on February 27, 1976.

Jose Abad Santos on Stamps

Jose Abad Santos is best known as a jurist. He gained national hero status during World War II. His refusal to collaborate with the Japanese with the Japanese occupational forces resulted in his incarceration, torture and death.

José Abad Santos y Basco (February 19, 1886 – May 2, 1942) was the fifth Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines and served as Acting President of the Philippines during World War II. He was executed by Japanese forces during the Japanese occupation of the Philippines, He is the grandfather of Senator Jamby Madrigal. Abad Santos was born in City of San Fernando, Pampanga to Vicente Abad Santos and Toribia Basco. His brother, Pedro, would eventually emerge as a leading socialist leader during the Commonwealth era. In 1904, he was sent to the United States as a government pensionado. He finished a pre-law course at the Santa Clara College in Santa Clara, California; his Bachelor of Laws at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois; and his Masters of Laws at George Washington University in 1909. Admitted to the Philippine Bar in 1911, he served as Assistant Attorney at the Bureau of Justice from 1913 to 1917 .

In 1919, Abad Santos would become instrumental in laying the legal groundwork as well as drafting the by-laws and constitution of the Philippine Women's University, the country's and Asia's first private non-sectarian institution for higher learning for women. A staunch Methodist, Abad Santos was a member of the Central United Methodist Church on Kalaw Street in Manila then known as the Central Methodist Episcopal Church.

He was later appointed the first Filipino corporate lawyer of the Philippine National Bank, Manila Railroad Company and other government corporations. He returned to the Department of Justice where he became Attorney-General, Undersecretary of Justice then Secretary of Justice from 1921 to 1923. In July 1923, he resigned as Secretary of Justice together with other department secretaries as a result of the controversy between Governor-General Leonard Wood and Filipino leaders.

Abad Santos then served as Chief Counsel of the President of the Philippine Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives. In 1926 he went to the United States as head of the Philippine Educational Mission. He was again appointed Secretary of Justice in 1928 and re-appointed on July 1, 1931. In 1932, he became an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court. He became its Chief Justice on December 24, 1941. As part of the emergency reorganization of the Commonwealth government, Abad Santos, in his capacity as Chief Justice, was given the responsibilities previously handled by the Secretary of Justice (the position of Secretary of Justice was abolished for the duration of the war). Abad Santos accompanied the Commonwealth government to Corregidor, where on December 30, 1941, he administered the oath of office to President Quezon and Vice-President Osmeña for the second term they'd been elected to in November of that year. He also undertook, with Manuel Roxas, the supervision of the destruction of Commonwealth government currency to prevent its falling into enemy hands.

When President Manuel L. Quezon left for the United States via Australia, Chief Justice Abad Santos was given the choice to leave with him. But the latter preferred to remain in the Philippines and carry on his work and stay with his family. President Quezon appointed him Acting President with full authority to act in the name of, and on behalf, of the President of the Philippines in areas unoccupied by the Japanese. On April 11, 1942, he and his son José, Jr. were captured by the Japanese while traveling by automobile in Carcar, Cebu. He identified himself as the chief justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines. Abad Santos and his son were then taken to a concentration camp.

When asked to cooperate with the Japanese, he refused to do so. Although he had nothing to do with military operations, they imputed to him the destruction of the bridges and other public works in Cebu.

The Japanese High Command took him and his son to Parang, Cotabato (now in Maguindanao) in April 1942. The next day they were brought to Malabang, Lanao, and after three days confinement at the constabulary barracks, Chief Justice Abad Santos was called to Japanese headquarters. Before he was shot to death, he was able to talk to his son José, Jr. His last parting words to his son were "Do not cry, Pepito, show to these people that you are brave. It is an honor to die for one's country. Not everybody has that chance." He was executed at 2:00 p.m., on May 2, 1942. The date is often reported as May 7, but as former Supreme Court Justice Ramón C. Aquino, Abad Santos' biographer put it, "At first it was thought that Abad Santos had been killed on May 7, 1942. This was the date given by Pepito himself during his testimony at the trials of Generals Hayashi and Kawaguchi. But on the basis of Fukui's testimony supported by notations in his diary, the date of Abad Santos' execution was definitely ascertained to be at two o'clock on the afternoon of May 2, 1942."

The stamp above was issued on May 2,1960.

Carlos P.Garcia on Stamps

Carlos P. Garcia was born in Talibon, Bohol on November 4, 1896, to Policronio Garcia and Ambrosia Polistico. He studied in Cebu Provincial High School and Silliman University then Philippine Law School and graduated in 1923. Garcia was famous for his poetry in Bohol where he earned the nickname Prince of Visayan Poets.

Garcia became a school teacher then a representative in the Philippine Congress in 1925. He was elected governor of Bohol in 1931 and re-elected 1940. Garcia became a senator in 1941. He was re-elected in 1945 and again in 1953. During the Japanese occupation, Garcia was an active member of the resistance. After the war, he was the one who missioned the Philippine Rehabilitation at War Damage claims in 1945 in the United States.

Garcia was elected as vice-president in 1953 and was appointed Secretary of Foreign Affairs under President Magsaysay. He assumed the presidency the day after Ramon Magsaysay's death. After Garcia finished Magsaysay's term, he was elected president in his own right. President Garcia is most remembered most for his Austerity Program and Filipino First Policy. His Austerity Program was aimed at curbing graft and corruption within the government. Although it was not very successful, it did help to restore trust between the people and the government.

The Filipino First Policy put the rights of Filipinos above those of foreigners. This favoured the Filipino businessmen in contrast to foreign investors. This meant foreigners could invest capital up to 40% in a business or industry while the remaining 60% would be owned by Filipino citizens. Garcia's policies aimed at boosting the economy and obtaining greater economic independence. Garcia also aimed at reviving old Filipino cultural traditions which might have become extinct as the result of the adoption of Spanish and American cultures through colonisation.

Maximo Kalaw on Stamps

Maximo Maguiat Kalaw (1891-1955) is a renowned writer from Lipa,Batangas. He studied at the Philippine Normal School and the University of the Philippines wherein he became the editor of Collegio Folio, the first school paper in UP. He also obtained a Bachelor of Laws from Georgetown University in 1915 and Ph.D. in Philosophy from the University of Michigan in 1924.

He became an associate editor of the Manila Times, a professor of political science at the University of the Philippines, an exchange professor at the University of Michigan, becoming the first Filipino to teach in an American university.

He was also a private secretary in the office of Manuel L. Quezon and a representative of the 3rd district of Batangas in the first legislature of the Commonwealth.

His published works include Usapin ng mga Pilipino (1915), The Development of Philippine Politics (1926), The Filipino Rebel: A Romance of the American Occupation of the Philippines (1930), The Philippine Question: An Analysis (1931), An Introduction to Philippine Social Science (1933), and Materials for the Constitution (1934).

He died on March 23, 1955.

Date of Issue: June 3, 1991

Vicente Fabella on Stamps

Vicente F. Fabella (1891-1959). Educator, economist, civic leader and the first Filipino certified public accountant. He was the founder of Jose Rizal College. He was born on May 7, 1891 in Pagsanjan, Laguna, the third of six children of Juan Fabella, who served as mayor of Pagsanjan during the Spanish and American regimes, and Damiana Fernandez.

He obtained his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of the Philippines in 1912 and then continued his studies in the United States, obtaining concurrent degrees of bachelor of philosophy from the University of Chicago and diploma in commerce from Northwestern University in 1915. That same year, he became a certified public accountant in the state of Wisconsin.

In 1916, upon his return to the Philippines, he became a professional lecturer in accounting and auditing at the University of the Philippines. At the same time, he opened the accounting firm, Vicente Fabella and Company.

He was instrumental in the founding of Far Eastern College of Accounts, Commerce and Finance in 1919 of which he became the first president and Nicanor Reyes, founder of Far Eastern University, became an associate. The school was originally located in a four-room building on Rizal Avenue. It later transferred to Arlegui Street and, 1922, to its well-known prewar address at 1063 R. Hidalgo in Quiapo. It was also in 1922 that it changed its corporate name to Jose Rizal College. Since its foundation, JRC had been “Fully dedicated to the continued up building of educational methods and systems that have met the need of the country for the development of Philippine business, trade, industry and finance.”

The following year, the first government examination for CPA’s in the Philippines was given. Fabella was among the first to be licensed in the country. His office was instrumental in the drafting of Act 3105, which became the basis of the CPA Law of the Philippines. Dr. Conrado Benitez credited Fabella with having elevated public accountancy “to the status of a profession,” adding that the training of CPA’s “is his lasting contribution to the building of the nation.”

Fabella was a founding member of the Philippine Association of Colleges and Universities (PACU), organized in 1932, and the Philippine Association of Collegiate Schools of Business (PACSB) which was formally set up in 1962. In 1933, he was named Philippine delegate to the 4th International Congress on Accounting in London. In 1937, he helped the establishment of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), and the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps. (ROTC).

He was a charter member of the Delta Mu Delta, an honorary society of Northwestern University, and a member of the American Association of University Instructors in Accounting.

When the Japanese invaded the Philippines in 1941, Fabella shut down JRC as a gesture of protest, and got himself involved in the underground movement. Despite the repeated requests by the Japanese authorities to have his school reopened, he kept it closed throughout the entire occupation period. As a consequence, the school building and his residence were commandeered by the Japanese, forcing him and his family to seek shelter in the mountains of Laguna.

Soon after the liberation of Manila in 1945, efforts were made to get classes in schools started once again. JRC resumed its operation in school year 1946-47. In 1949, seeing that the R. Hidalgo location could no longer accommodate added facilities for students, Fabella moved JRC to its present spacious grounds in Mandaluyong. This was also the time when he turned over his accounting firm to his younger brother. This allowed him to work in a more relaxed manner and to make frequent travels abroad.

In 1955, President Ramon Magsaysay asked him to join the Central Bank survey Commission. The commission took over a year to complete its work. Thus, Fabella took his last long trip to Europe in 1957.

He was 67 when he passed away on February 14, 1959. His widow, Carmen de Jesus, succeeded him to the presidency of JRC. He had three children: Virginia, a Maryknoll nun who has adopted the name of Sor Maria del Carmen; Armand, and Carmen.

Date of Issue: June 3, 1991

Jose P. Laurel on Stamps

Jose P. Laurel (March 9, 1891 - November 6, 1959) was the third president of the Republic of the Philippines. An Associate Justice of the Supreme Court before becoming president, he was also an educator, having founded the Lyceum of the Philippines.

Laurel was born on 9 March 1891 in Tanauan, Batangas to Sotero Laurel and Jacoba Garcia. His father, who was the Secretary of the Interior in Emilio Aguinaldo's cabinet and a signatory to the Malolos Constitution, was taken prisoner during the Filipino-American War and died in captivity in 1902 when Laurel was only 11 years old.

This led the young Laurel to work as an altar boy and chorister, later taking on a job as a part-time laborer at the Bureau of Forestry when he turned 18, for the money he needed to continue his studies. He later became a clerk for the Code Committee, where he met Thomas Atkins Street, a future member of the Philippine Supreme Court and who served as his mentor.

After graduating from the Manila High School (now Araullo High School) in 1911, he eloped with Paciencia Hidalgo, and enrolled at the University of the Philippines College of Law, where he later earned his doctorate in Philosophy. He ranked second in his class of 60 and also came out second in the 1915 Bar Examinations.

Laurel later obtained a Licenciado en Jurisprudencia degree from the Escuela de Derecho in Manila while serving as Chief of the Executive Bureau's Administration Division. He was later sent to Yale University as a government pensionado in 1919, earning a degree in civil law a year later.

He also took special courses in international law at Oxford University in England and the University of Paris in France, before returning to the Philippines in 1921.

Upon his return to the country in 1921, Laurel was appointed chief of the Executive Bureau on the strength of his academic achievements. A year later, he was promoted to Undersecretary of the Interior, and after ten months was made Secretary of the same department by Governor-General Leonard Wood.

Laurel resigned his post along with the rest of the Filipino members of the Cabinet during the Cabinet Crisis of 1923. It was a sign of protest against Wood's opposition to measures working for Philippine independence by vetoing 16 bills passed by the Philippine Legislature.

After resigning from Wood's cabinet, Laurel opened a law office and taught law in Manila before running for a Senate seat in the 1924 elections. Winning in the elections, he however lost to Claro M. Recto in the 1931 elections. He was later elected as the delegate for Batangas in the 1934 Constitutional Convention. Laurel was considered one of the “Seven Wise Men” of the convention, heading the committee on the Bill of Rights.

Laurel was later appointed by Pres. Manuel L. Quezon as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court in 1935, where he became famous for many landmark decisions, such as on the Nalundasan case in 1940, acquitting future president Ferdinand E. Marcos of murder after finding the prosecution's case contradictory.

Another landmark decision was on the Angara v. Electoral Commission case, where he affirmed the power of the judiciary to interpret the Constitution and to place under judicial review the actions of the other branches of government.

As World War II broke out in the Pacific on 8 December 1941, Quezon along with other government officials fled to Corregidor to establish a Commonwealth government in exile. However, Laurel was ordered to remain in Manila by Quezon because of his close relationship with Japanese officials (even receiving an honorary doctorate from Tokyo University) before the war broke out.

As the Japanese took over the Philippines in January 1942, they created the Philippine Executive Commission to govern the country. First headed by Jorge B. Vargas, former mayor of Manila, the commission included Laurel as Commissioner of Justice, and later Commissioner of the Interior. Because of this appointment, Laurel was seen as a collaborator with the Japanese.

On 5 June 1943, Laurel was shot while playing golf in Wack-Wack, but survived. He was then elected president of the Japanese-sponsored Republic on 25 September 1943, with Benigno Aquino, Sr. as speaker. They were then flown to Tokyo along with Vargas, where they were prodded by the Japanese government to declare war on the United States and Great Britain. Laurel refused, saying that the Filipinos would disapprove of it and he would lose his following if he did so.

Laurel nonetheless instituted a Filipino First policy. He had all Japanese guards and advisers removed from Malacañang, saying that if the Japanese were really sincere about independence they should prove it. He also asserted custody over Manuel Roxas to prevent him from falling into the hands of the Japanese.

However, as the Americans launched the first air raid on Manila and the Japanese threatened to kill more Filipinos if he did not agree, Laurel issued a declaration of war on the United States and Great Britain after consulting with Roxas and other Filipino leaders. There was one condition: no Filipino could be drafted into service under the Japanese military.

Despite this restriction, the pro-Japanese Makabayang Pilipino, or Makapili, was formed by Benigno Ramos, Pio Duran and Gen. Artemio Ricarte in December 1944. During its inauguration at the Legislative Building, Laurel delivered a speech that rebuked its formation.

As the war neared its end, the Japanese ordered Laurel and other government officials to leave for Baguio, from where they were brought to Japan as hostages. After Japan surrendered on 15 August 1945, Laurel dissolved the Japanese-sponsored Philippine Republic two days later.

He contacted General Douglas MacArthur on 14 September 1945 to inform him of his whereabouts. The next day, Laurel and his family were arrested and imprisoned in Japan by American agents. Without any writing instruments and the only reading material allowed him was a book called The World in 2030 AD given by his son, Salvador, Laurel started to write his War Memoirs during his imprisonment.

Laurel was flown back to Manila by the Americans on 23 July 1946 and was imprisoned in Muntinlupa to face trial for the crime of treasonable collaboration against the United States. Meanwhile, Roxas—whom he had sheltered during the war—was elected president of the Philippines.

Laurel appeared before the People's Court on 2 September 1946, pleading not guilty. His petition for bail was granted on 14 September 1946, and the trial was scheduled for July 1947. This was halted when Roxas issued a proclamation granting amnesty to all political and economic collaborators on 28 January 1947.

Laurel later ran for the presidency under the Nacionalista Party in the elections of 1949, but lost to Elpidio Quirino of the Liberal Party amid charges of massive cheating and fraud. Despite losing in the presidential race, Laurel won a Senate seat in 1951. During his Senate stint he authored many landmark bills, such as the Rizal bill, which made Jose Rizal's two novels, (Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo) compulsory reading in all universities and colleges. He and Claro M. Recto also authored the bill that established the National Education Board.

He also called for the creation of an economic superbody to formulate and implement the economic and monetary policies of the government, which would later become the forerunner of the present National Economic Development Authority (NEDA). After retiring from politics, Laurel focused on managing the Lyceum of the Philippines, which he founded on 7 July 1952. During that time, he also served as the president of the Philippine Banking Corporation.

He died on 6 November 1959 of a massive heart attack and stroke.

Date of Issue: June 3, 1991

Ricardo Paras on Stamps

Paras had an illustrious career in the judiciary starting as a judge in the Court of First Instance in Samar, Ilocos Sur, Abra and Pangasinan. In 1936, President Quezon appointed him as one of the original members of the Court of Appeals. He also served as associate Justice of the supreme court during the Japanese occupation.

Ricardo M. Paras (February 17, 1891 - November 25, 1984) was the Chief Justice of the Philippines from April 2, 1951 until February 17, 1961.

He graduated his Bachelor of Laws from the University of the Philippines in 1913, and placed second (after future president Manuel Roxas) in the Bar Examinations that same year. He engaged in private law practice before being elected in the House of Representatives in 1919. His judicial career started when he was appointed judge in 1924, and later on appointed in 1936 to the Court of Appeals. He became an associate Justice in 1941, and was a member of the wartime judiciary during the Japanese Occupation.

Paras made a frugal approach in order to survive and maintain the efficiency of service during the post-war years. He advocated the elimination of the case backlog, and encouraged speedy adjudication and deliberation of the cases. His dedication to such advocacy paid off, when there was no more backlog upon his retirement in 1961.

His son, Edgardo B. Paras, became a member of the Philippine Supreme Court from 1986 to 1992.

According to Justice J.B.L. Reyes, during the deliberations of the People v. Hernandez rebellion case, Justice Sabino Padilla (who is the brother of the Solicitor General arguing for the Government) openly accused the Chief Justice (Paras) for being prejudiced against the Government and asking biased questions during the oral argument. Riled, Paras rebutted, and a heated exchange soon ensued, which would have worsened had not they restrained themselves.

Date of Issue: June 3, 1991

Jorge B. Vargas on Stamps

Jorge B. Vargas (August 24, 1890 – February 22, 1980) was a lawyer and youth advocate born in Bago City, Negros Occidental, Philippines. He graduated valedictorian from Bacolod High School in 1909 and obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1911 and a Bachelor of Law degree with honors in 1914, both from the University of the Philippines. He was a founding member of the Philippine Amateur Athletic Federation (now the Philippine Olympic Committee) in 1911 and served in its Executive Committee in 1918. He served as its second Chairman from 1935 to 1955. He was also the first Filipino member of the International Olympic Committee.

After being admitted to the Philippine Bar in 1914, he was appointed as law clerk in the Philippine Commission. He quickly rose through the ranks and was promoted to the position of Chief Clerk of the Department of the Interior in 1917.

In 1918 he served as the legislative secretary to Speaker Sergio Osmeña of the House of Representatives and in 1919 was appointed by President Manuel L. Quezon as his Executive Secretary, becoming the first in the country to serve in such a position.

Vargas was designated by Philippine Commonwealth President Manuel Quezon as mayor of the Greater Manila area in 1941. His responsibilities included administering the "open city" upon the arrival of occupational troops of the Imperial Japanese Army on January 2, 1942.

By 1942, Vargas became chairman of the Japanese-sponsored Philippine Executive Commission. During the collaborationist Second Philippine Republic, he was once asked by the Japanese to assume the Presidency, but he declined. He instead served as the regime's Ambassador to Japan. In that position, he was quoted shortly before Japanese troops were driven from Manila as stating that "we know Japan is destined for sure victory and prosperity for ages to come." Vargas served as Chairman of the National Planning Commission from 1946–1954 and was a member of the Board of Regents of the University of the Philippines from 1961-1965. In 1960, the Republic of the Philippines conferred on him the Legion of Honor with the rank of Commander.

Vargas’ involvement with Scouting started in 1935 when he became a member of the executive board of the Philippine Council of the Boy Scouts of America. Together with other Philippine Scouting advocates he became one of the charter members of the Boy Scouts of the Philippines in 1936.

Upon the death of Manuel Camus in 1949 he was unanimously chosen by the National Executive Board to serve as the BSP's President and Chief Scout. He served the position of National President until 1961. He became a member of the World Scout Committee of the World Organization of the Scout Movement from 1951 to 1957.

Vargas was awarded the Bronze Wolf in 1959 and received other awards including the Silver Tamaraw (Philippines), Silver Fox (Canada), Silver Ibex (Austria), Silver Wolf (UK), and the White Eagle (Japan). He also became the first recipient of the Tanglaw ng Kabataan (Light of the Youth) Award of the BSP in 1961.

Date of Issue: June 3,1991

Gen.Vicente Lukban on Stamps

Vicente R. Lukbán (February 11, 1860–November 16, 1916), was a Filipino officer in Emilio Aguinaldo's staff during the Philippine Revolution and the politico-military chief of Samar and Leyte during the Philippine-American War. The Americans credited him as the mastermind of the infamous Balangiga massacre, in which more than forty American troopers were killed. Later investigations by historians, however, disclosed that Lukban played no actual part in the planning of the attack.

Lukbán was born in Labo, Camarines Norte on February 11, 1860 to Agustin Lukbán of Ambos Camarines and Andrea Rilles of Lucban, Tayabas. He completed his early education at Escuela Pia in Lucban, continued his studies at Ateneo Municipal de Manila, and took up Bachelor of Laws at the University of Santo Tomas and Colegio de San Juan de Letran.

He returned to Labo after resigning from his job at the Manila Court of First Instance. He married Sofía Dízon Barba and the union produced four children: Cecilia, Félix, Agustín, and Vicente, Jr. Sofía died after their last child was born. Lukbán then left his children in the care of his siblings so that he could devote his time to the cause of the revolution.

Lukbán, thereafter, accepted the post of Justice of the Peace. In 1884, he was inducted into Freemasonry, Luz de Oriente ("Light of the Orient"). The organization had attracted many intellectuals and middle-class Filipinos to its ranks. In 1886, he stopped working in the judicial office and busied himself with agriculture and commerce in Bicol. He formed La Cooperativa Popular aimed at promoting the cooperative business activities of small and medium scale producers with the aim to increase their income from the lands by selling their products without passing through middle men. Part of the profits of the cooperatives were secretly remitted to the revolutionary movement of Andrés Bonifacio, the Katipunan. The cooperative also served as an effective covert means of spreading the ideals of the revolution. Their members could move around freely without arousing the suspicion of the Spanish authorities.

By 1896, Lukbán had centralized the funds of the cooperatives into the coffers of the revolution. He periodically remitted money to the evolving revolutionary movement. At the same time, he acted as an emissary of the Katipunan unit in Bicol to gather information about the Spanish movements in Manila and to determine how such movements affected Bicol provinces. On one of his trips to Manila, he was arrested by the guardia civiles, ("civil guards") and charged with conspiring to overthrow the government. He was imprisoned in Bilibid prison and tortured[citation needed] at Fort Santiago. While Lukbán was still in prison, the Philippine Revolution began. On August 18, 1897, he was released from jail, together with Juan Luna and immediately thereafter, joined the revolutionary government’s armed forces.

In the army, he was commissioned to serve as one of Emilio Aguinaldo's officers. Lukbán was among the few who assisted Aguinaldo in planning war strategies and activities. When the Pact of Biak-na-Bato was signed, he was asked by Aguinaldo to be one of the members of his party going into exile in Hong Kong. Lukban spent his exile in Hong Kong studying military science under the Lord Commander Joseph Churchase of the British Naval command. This enabled him to master the arts of soldiery — fencing, shooting, gunpowder and ammunitions preparations, and the planning and execution of war strategies and tactics.

Shortly after Aguinaldo proclaimed Philippine Independence in 1898, Lukbán was sent to the Bicol region to direct military operations against the Spaniards. His successes in Bicol ushered him into a new and challenging assignment: as Leyte and Samar's politico-military chief. Lukbán married his second wife Paciencia Gonzales in Samar. This union produced eight children: Victoria, Juan, María, Fidel, Rosita, Ramon, José and Lourdes.

On December 31, 1899, a hundred riflemen under Lukbán gathered and he proclaimed himself the new governor of Samar under the First Philippine Republic. When the U.S. 1st Infantry Regiment landed on Samar’s shores in January 1901, they were met by suicidal charges of bolomen under Lukbán’s command. Nevertheless, Lukban was soon forced to retreat into the island's interior, leaving behind an organized resistance network. Samareños caught cooperating with the Americans were executed swiftly and dramatically. When U.S. General Arthur MacArthur offered Lukban amnesty in exchange for his surrender, he turned it down and swore to fight to the end.

Although bearing command responsibility for the Balangiga massacre, Lukbán learned about it a week later, on October 6, 1901. Other than a letter to town mayors encouraging them to follow the Balangiga example on the same date, there are no published records of his reaction to the news or later comment from him.

After Baldomero Aguinaldo’s capture in 1901, Samar, under Lukbán's leadership, remained one of the few areas of Filipino resistance. American troops encountered few enemies to fight in the open, finding themselves constantly harassed by Lukbán's guerrillas. However, two prisoners later revealed the location of Lukbán’s secret headquarters along the Cadac-an River, Basey, Samar. The prisoners warned that the fort was impregnable, but Major Littleton Waller sent scouts to investigate. On November 17, 1901, Waller attacked with an amphibious assault team up the river, as Captains Bearss and Porter attacked by land with forces from Basey and Balangiga. The amphibious assault was foiled by a Filipino trap, and Porter attacked alone. The Filipino soldiers fled before machine gun fire, leaving scaling ladders behind for the Americans. The retreating Filipinos were gunned down from behind as the American flag was raised above the garrison. It was a clear victory for the United States, with 30 Filipinos dead and the capture of Lukbán and his lieutenants. The war on Samar, however, would not truly be over until the rugged interior was conquered.

Lukbán's career did not end with his captivity. He was elected governor of Tayabas (now Quezon province) in 1912 and re-elected in 1916. He died at his Manila residence on November 16, 1916.

Date of Issue: July 31, 1987

Graciano Lopez Jaena on Stamps

Graciano López y Jaena

(December 18, 1856 - January 20, 1896), was a Filipino writer and journalist in the Philippine Revolution. He was recognized as the "Prince of Filipino Orators" who wrote great and striking articles in the infamous newspaper La Solidaridad in Barcelona, Spain.

López Jaena was born in Jaro, Iloilo to Placido López and María Jacoba Jaena. His parents were poor; his mother was a seamstress and his father a general repairman. At the age of six, López Jaena was placed under the care of Friar Francisco Jayme who raised him.

His parents sent López Jaena to the Seminario de San Vicente Ferrer in Jaro which had been opened under the administration of Governor General Carlos María de la Torre. While studying at a seminary institution, López Jaena served as a secretary to an uncle named Claudio López who was the honorary vice consul of Portugal in Iloilo. His ambition of becoming a physician, convinced his parents that this was the better course of action. López Jaena sought enrollment at the University of Santo Tomas but was denied admission because the required Bachelor of Arts degree was not offered at the seminary in Jaro. However he was appointed to the San Juan de Dios Hospital as an apprentice. Unfortunately, due to financial problems, his parents could not afford to keep him in Manila. He returned to Iloilo and practiced medicine in communities.

During this period, his visits with the poor and the common people began to stir feelings about the injustices that were common. At the age of 18 he wrote the satirical story "Fray Botod" which depicted a fat and lecherous priest. Botod’s false piety "always had the Virgin and God on his lips no matter how unjust and underhanded his acts are." This naturally incurred the fury of the friars who knew that the story depicted them. Although it was not published a copy circulated in the region but the Friars could not prove that López Jaena was the author. However he got into trouble for refusing to testify that certain prisoners died of natural causes when it was obvious that they had died at the hands of the mayor of Pototan. López Jaena continued to agitate for justice and finally went to Spain when threats were made on his life.

López Jaena sailed for Spain in 1879. There he was to become a leading literary and oratorical spokesman for the Philippine reformal issues. Philippine historians regard López Jaena, along with Marcelo H. del Pilar and José P. Rizal, as the triumvirate of Filipino propagandists. Of these three Ilustrados, López Jaena was the first to arrive and may have founded the genesis of the Propaganda movement.

López Jaena pursued his medical studies at the University of Valencia but did not finish the course. Once Rizal approached Lopéz Jaena for not finishing his medical studies. Graciano replied, "On the shoulders of slaves should not rest a doctor's cape." Rizal countermanded, "The shoulders do not honor the doctor's cape, but the doctor's cape honors the shoulders."

He then moved to the field of journalism. Losing interest in politics and academic life, he soon enjoyed his life in Barcelona and Madrid. However, his friends would forgive him these indiscretions due to his appeal with words and oratory. Mariano Ponce who was another of the Filipino propagandists in Spain observed, "... a deafening ovation followed the close of the peroration, the ladies waved their kerchiefs wildly, and the men applauded frantically as they stood up from their seats in order to embrace the speaker."

Rizal noted, "His great love is politics and literature. I do not know for sure whether he loves politics in order to deliver speeches or he loves literature to be a politician."

In addition he is remembered for his literary contributions to the propaganda movement. López Jaena founded the fortnightly newspaper, La Solidaridad. When the publication office moved from Barcelona to Madrid, the editorship was succeeded to Marcelo H. del Pilar.

López Jaena died of tuberculosis on January 20, 1896, eleven months short of his 40th birthday. The following day, he was buried in unmarked grave at the Cementerio del Sud-Oeste of Barcelona. His death was followed on July 4 by Marcelo H. del Pilar and on December 30 of José Rizal by firing squad, thus ending the great triumvirate of propagandists. He died in poverty just shy of two and a half years before the declaration of independence from Spain by Emilio Aguinaldo. His remains was never brought back to the Philippines.

Date of Issue: May 1, 1952

Gen. Vicente Lim on Stamps

Brigadier General Vicente Lim (1889 – 1944) was a World War II general. He was born in Calamba City, Laguna, Philippines, which is also the birthplace of José Rizal, the country's national hero.

Lim was the first Filipino graduate of the United States Military Academy (Class of 1914) at West Point, General Lim served as a 2nd Lieutenant during World War I. At the war’s end, he returned to the Philippines, where he continued his military career and quickly rose in rank (initially with the Philippine Scouts and later with the Philippine Army). By 1940, he was appointed to the post of Chief of Staff of the Philippine Army.

When the Philippine Army was incorporated into the American Armed Forces on July 16, 1941, Lim was given the rank of Brigadier General and became the top–ranking Filipino under General Douglas MacArthur, placed in command of the 41st Philippine Division, tasked with the defense of southern Luzon. On April 9, 1942, the 41st surrendered on Bataan, along with all American and Filipino forces, to the Japanese 14th Army of General Homma.

Lim survived the Bataan Death March, and on June 6 , 1942 was admitted to the Philippine General Hospital for treatment of injuries sustained at Bataan (where he had led the bloody rear guard action against the Japanese in Abucay, Bataan). He recovered quickly, but with the help of his brother–in–law, Dr. Jose N. Rodriguez, he concealed this fact. With the Japanese convinced of his incapacitation, he led the guerilla resistance forces of Luzon. Basically, he conducted secret guerrilla activities while pretending to be confined at the Philippine General Hospital.

In 1944 he was ordered to rejoin General Douglas MacArthur in Australia. He attempted the journey but was captured en route by the Japanese. He was held for months at Fort Santiago and the Bilibid prison before being beheaded, along with Colonel Antonio Escoda, shortly before the liberation.

General Lim died 31 December 1944 and is listed among the Tablets of the Missing at Manila National Cemetery.

Date of Issue: August 22, 1982

Lapu-Lapu on Stamps

Lapu-Lapu (1491–1542) was the datu of Mactan, an island in the Visayas in the Philippines, who is known as the first native of the archipelago to have resisted Spanish colonization. He is now regarded as the first Filipino hero.

On the morning of April 27, 1521, Lapu-Lapu led approximately 1,500 Mactan warriors armed with spears, kampilan and kalasag, in a battle against 49 Christian soldiers led by Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan. In what would later be known as the Battle of Mactan, Magellan and several of his men were killed.

According to Sulu oral tradition, Lapu-Lapu was a Muslim chieftain, and was also known as "Kaliph Pulaka". Other Moros also recognize him as a Muslim and as a Tausūg. A variant of the name, as written by Carlos Calao, a 17th century Chinese-Spanish poet in his poem "Que Dios Le Perdone" (Spanish, "That God May Forgive Him") is "Cali Pulacu". In the 19th century, the propagandist Mariano Ponce used a variant name, "Kalipulako", as one of his pseudonyms. The 1898 Philippine Declaration of Independence refers to Lapu-Lapu as "King Kalipulako de Maktan".

The Cebuano people have erected a statue in his honor on Mactan Island and renamed the town of Opon in Cebu to Lapu-Lapu City. A more recent statue was given as a gift to the Philippines by South Korea in 2005. It stands in Rizal Park in the national capital of Manila.

Lapu-Lapu appears as a central figure in the official seal of the Philippine National Police and as the main design on the defunct 1-centavo coin circulated in the Philippines from 1967-1974.

During the First Regular Session of the 14th Congress of the Philippines, Senator Richard Gordon introduced a bill proposing to declare April 27 as an official Philippine national holiday to be known as Adlaw ni Lapu-Lapu, (Cebuano, "Day of Lapu-Lapu").

Two Filipino films, both called "Lapu-Lapu", have been made about the figure—the first in 1955 and the second in 2002. The latter stars actor-turned-politician Lito Lapid and Joyce Jimenez.

A street in the South of Market neighborhood of San Francisco, California is named after Lapu-Lapu.

Date of Issue: October20, 1963