PhilPost launches ‘cartoon’ Year of the Snake stamps
MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Postal Corp. (PhilPost) unveiled its cartoon-inspired 2025 Year of the Snake stamp last weekend, ushering in the Lunar New Year.
The agency has been issuing commemorative postage stamps since 1992 for almost three cycles of the 12 Chinese Zodiac signs, which are 12 animals that represent people born in a particular year.
Postmaster Luis D. Carlos said to reporters after the stamps' unveiling held in Robinsons Mall in Manila that they have printed 20,000 of the stamps this year.
“It’s nice to see that people are now getting back to Philately. Even though it’s a small piece of paper, malaki ‘yung nagiging part niya sa pagiging hobbyist.
“It’s something that we feel since the new generation, hindi nga nila alam halos ang…. So we’re bringing back the collecting hobby to make it more appealing to the new generation, the Gen Z,” Carlos said.
Rey Ong, President of the Philippine Philatelic Federation, underscored the importance of stamp collection or Philately.
“The word Philately is very important. It does not only mean stamp. It means the whole entire postal system; how and when and where the message or the letter is brought from point A to point B. This is very important and it's called Philately,” Ong said during his opening remarks.
Together with the launch of the 2025 stamp, a special exhibit of collectors’ PhilPost stamps throughout the years as well as trivia and facts about the discipline was launched.
The stamp exhibiti is part of Robinsons Mall’s Chinese New Year celebrations. It is currently on view in Robinsons Galleria until January 30. It will return to Robinsons Manila on January 21 to February 2.
The launch was attended by collectors, including fourth generation of stamp collectors.
“Philatelists seek knowledge, and the most important thing is information. And we are thoroughly well aware of what's going on each and every year from 1854 until today,” Ong said, referring to the popularity of the hobby.
He continued, “We are aware with what went on and how the letter was delivered and in what manner it was delivered. So, we are also reporters and we also preserve the legacy of a particular issuing country like