Philippine E-Journals

The History and Evolution of Philippine Postal Services

Franklin F. Guiling

Discipline: History

 

Abstract:

For many years, postal stamps have always been a significant part of Philippine history. In spite of the advent of electronic mail and text messaging systems on telecommunication networks, stamps remain a relevant tool for historical and communications purposes. This goes to show that stamps thrive in the society as history persists to evolve. This study traces the beginnings of the Philippine postal system, its foundation and historical development of the postal service. However, this historical study of Philippine postal system is limited to the transitions of postal services during the Spanish colonial period. An analysis of the political imagery on Philippine postage stamps during the Spanish colonization period indicated that politics in the Philippines pursued very different strategies in representing the nation. From the time when the first stamps were introduced in 1854 until the last issue of 1898, different administrations had different national policies. Being political or economic in nature, their various policies were reflected on these postage stamps during the Spanish colonization period.