Wenceslao Vinzons on Stamps

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Wenceslao Quinito Vinzons (September 28, 1910 — July 15, 1942) was a Filipino politician and a leader of the armed resistance against the Japanese occupying forces during World War II. Among the first Filipinos to organize the guerrilla resistance after the Japanese invasion of the Philippines in 1941, he was executed by the Japanese Army.

Vinzons was one of the young and brilliant delegates to the constitutional convention under President Manuel L. Quezon. Although not a Tagalog himself, he supported Quezon's proposal to develop and national language based on Tagalog. The non-Tagalog delegates protested the proposal but Vinzons drafted the present text of the section on national language, making it more acceptable to the other delegates. This led to the adoption of the proposal.

The stamp above was issued on September 9, 1987.

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