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Prior to 1877, Spanish-Philippine stamps were not accepted
for payment of mail to foreign countries other than to Spain and her
colonies. During this period, most covers from the Philippines
to countries outside the Spanish empire bore the stamps of British Asian
colonies (Hong Kong, India and Straits Settlement). In
all cases, the stamps were cancelled in either Hong Kong or Singapore.
Establishment of the General Postal Union transformed the
postal world in 1874. Renamed the Universal Postal Union
(UPU) in 1878, it provided uniform postal procedures for transmitting international
mail among its member nations. In Spain, the new treaty rates and
procedures were promulgated on January 1, 1876. Inclusion in the UPU and
subsequent changes in rates and procedures were not immediately applicable to
the colonies. Each colony was allowed to join the UPU independently. On May
1, 1877, the Philippines
joined the UPU. For reasons unknown, the UPU rate and procedural changes were
not fully implemented in the Philippines
until September 1, 1879. From that time, Philippine stamps became valid for
postage to all member countries, allowing other countries to accept mail
bearing Philippine stamps.
Despite Philippine’s inclusion in the UPU, a few
Philippine stamps from the mid 1880’s to 1898 are known cancelled with
non-Philippine postmarks. An important concept with covers from the Philippines
was the UPU requirement to have sufficient postage at the country of
origin. Whether it was first cancelled in Manila
or a foreign port (Hong Kong, Saigon or Singapore), it made little
difference, as long as it was cancelled so the letter could get into the
overseas mail. The Hong Kong, Saigon and Singapore Post Offices readily
obliged.
Apparently, some
foreign businesses in Manila routinely had their mail carried outside the
Philippine Post (delivered directly to outgoing non-Spanish ships). While
most of these ships (British, American, German, etc.) from Manila went to Hong Kong, there are records where the
letters went first to Saigon or Singapore. In the case of
Saigon (or occasionally Singapore),
this was usually carried via a private French ship out of Manila, which connected with the French packet
at Saigon. On arrival at the foreign
port, the stamps were cancelled with local postmarks and the mail was
forwarded accordingly.
This section only focuses
on the known Circular Date Stamps applied in Hong Kong,
Singapore and Saigon (Cochinchina).
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