MANILA, Philippines - Collectors might have to buy the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) 2015 stamps at twice the price to shoulder the cost of the misprinting of the first batch.
The Philippine Postal Corp. (PHLPost) had to reprint the stamps after the first design was disapproved. The first batch of 200,000 stamps is in the vault and will be destroyed.
Last Nov. 10, the stamps started selling for P30 instead of P15 each to compensate for the cost incurred in printing the first batch, a source in PHLPost told The STAR yesterday.
In the first batch, the flags of the 21 member-economies were added, while the second batch bears the official logo of APEC 2015, the source said.
“They were in such a hurry to come out with the APEC stamp that they made a mistake in the design,” the source said. “They did not thoroughly discuss it during the PHLPost board meetings, there was no consultation.”
The PHLPost allegedly spent less than P500,000 to print the first batch of stamps.
However, Enrique Tagle, PHLPost marketing management and support services manager, denied allegations that no consultation was made.
“The first stamp was one year in the making,” he said.
As a marketing strategy, PHLPost wanted the APEC stamps to be included in their APEC souvenirs, he added. They were even lobbying for a personalized “selfie” APEC stamp, but this suggestion was not approved.
“We really tried our best to coordinate with the other agencies concerned, we had a meeting with the Department of Finance Department of Tourism and the Department of Foreign Affairs, but no one complained,” he said.
He was “surprised” when they were told to coordinate with the National Organizing Committee (NOC).
Last October PHLPost hurriedly printed 101,000 copies of the correct version of the APEC stamps.
It was not the first time that PHLPost printed stamps and never sold them, Tagle said. Stamps were printed for the expected visit of Pope John Paul II, but he did not arrive, so the stamps were never sold.