When he was a thirteen or fourteen year old catechist, he met Blessed Padre Diego Luis de San Vitores - a martyr beatified by Pope John Paul II on October 6, 1985 as proto-martyr of the Marianas Islands - somewhere Manila or Cavite in 1668. He then joined the Mariana Mission composed of Spanish Jesuit missionaries
from the Philippines headed by Padre Diego as Rector. They went to the Ladrones Islands - later renamed the Marianas Islands - to evangelize the Chamorros.

On the fateful morning of April 2, 1672 - a day before Passion Sunday - he traveled with Blessed Padre Diego to the village of Tumhon on the Island of Guam to recover a runaway servant and perform baptismal rites. "In hatred of the faith," two natives maimed and killed them for being Christians, catechizing the Chamorros, and administering the Sacrament of baptism. Their bodies were thrown into the deep ocean.

He could have fought back and saved themselves from their assailants had he been armed. Unfortunately, he was not armed. He dutifully obeyed Padre Diego who prohibited it among his companions. He could have also fled for his life if he wanted to but he chose to stay, stand for his faith and die with Padre Diego. He was only seventeen or eighteen years old when he died a martyr.

Fellow missionaries remembered him as a good and valiant lad who served the Mariana Mission as a zealous, faithful and virtuous catechist and helper. They admired his perseverance in the Christian Faith and Apostolate despite the difficult and dangerous life in the Mission up to the day he was martyred. He was a buen catolico - a good Catholic; a buen soldado de Cristo - a good soldier of Christ; a buen hijo - a good son; and a vertueux catechiste - a virtuous catechist. He was thus proclaimed a beatus - a saint for the Third Christian Millennium - who can serve as an inspiration to the youth of today, not only for the Philippines, Guam or Marianas Islands where he proclaimed and practiced his faith but also for the whole world.

Recognizing his martyrdom, His Holiness Pope John Paul It beatified him at the St. Peter's Square on March 5, 2000. He is now just a step away from sainthood that many Filipinos want to happen as soon as possible because his life serves as a very good example on how to live according to established Christian virtues. Filipinos of today pray for his spirit to come alive to inspire young people to "fill out their lives with faith" and guide them in bearing witness to his faith as the Patron of the Filipino youth.

Stamp Design: Official Portrait of Pedro Calungsod in the City and Portrait of the young Pedro Calungsod as a catechist. The design of the stamp, souvenir sheet and one official First Day Cover are reproduced from the paintings of Rafael del Casal. The other official First day Cover design is from the painting of Alfredo Esquillo.