Philipinas Koreo 25th Anniversary of the Fall of Bataan

PILIPINAS KOREO on 9 April 1967 issued a  First Day Cover  to honour the 25th anniversary of the Fall of Bataan. Three stamps of different denominations (5 and 20 sentimo and 2 peso) were printed. The image depicted on the stamps  utilised the Fernando Amorsolo artwork entitled "The Maid of Bataan" which was painted in 1942. This multiple colour stamp was printed using a lithograph method. It featured 14 perforations.

The artwork has drawn similarity to Michelangelo's "Pietà". Amorsolo himself stated the painting "depicts the unfortunate trauma of a young woman as she defeatedly kneels before a fallen soldier, completely in a daze as she helplessly looks up to a blazing sky. A breath of life into the ethereal maiden has given her a clear expression of despair over the scene around her, as her fingers desperately clutch onto her white bandana. The wind blows through her skirt and the remnants of the surrounding hellish red and dark inferno".

Originally the painting contained the initials USAFFE (United States Army Forces - Far East) on the buckle of the soldier's uniform. Amorsolo  feared reprisal from the Japanese, who occupied the Philippines at that time, decided to erase it. Amorsolo kept this painting for 14 years until it was acquired by Judge Guillermo B. Guevara in 1956. The painting remained in his residence in Makati until it was transferred to the Judge Guillermo B. Guevara Room at the University of the Philippines Main Library, Diliman, Quezon City in 1977.