The
Spanish word "sello" means "stamp". This word was almost
always included in the label of the stamp which
was printed on the stamped paper (papel sellado) which
was first issued for the Philippines on January 1, 1640,
and continued to be issued every two years thereafter until
the end of the Spanish regime In 1898, the stamped
paper which bore these SELLO stamps was for almost two
hundred years subsequent to January 1, 1640,
the only form of stamped paper issued for use in the Philippines.
It came to be used, not only for judicial actuations and documents
of public record, but also for many commercial documents
such as insurance policies, stock certificates, customs
documents, and the books in which the accounts and other records
of merchants sad associations of persons were recorded. The
size and form of the stamped paper provided by the Government
proved to be inconvenient for some of these commercial
documents. With the idea of avoiding
this inconvenience, the Royal Decree of May
16, 1886, provided:
Article
1: for the issue of adhesive SELLO stamps which might be used instead
of stamped paper for "insurance policies, certificates
of stock in banking and other companies, and similar documents;
Article
4: that corporation or private persons might have SELLO stamps
printed directly upon their own stationery by sending such
stationery to the National Stamp Factory
in Spain and paying in advance the
cost of printing. |
In
accordance with this decree a series of imperforate
adhesive SELLO stamps appeared on January 1, 1888,
These stamps were labeled as valid for the
biennial period of 1888 -89, and were of
the same denominations, colors and design as the stamps
printed upon the stamped paper issued for the
same biennial period.
The
provisions of the Royal Decree of May 16,
1886, relating to the use of these adhesive SELLO
stamps were the following:
Article
1: The stamped paper and loose (adhesive) stamps
to be used in the Philippine Islands for
the term of two years from July 1, 1886 will
be of the classes and values as follows:
Sello
1 |
20.00
Pesos |
Sello
2 |
15.00 |
Sello
3 |
10.00 |
Sello
4 |
5.00 |
Sello
5 |
3.00 |
Sello
6 |
2.00 |
Sello
7 |
1.00 |
Sello
8 |
0.50 |
Sello
9 |
0.40 |
Sello
10 |
0.25 |
Sello
11 |
0.10 |
Sello
12 Official |
0.05 |
There
will also be printed loose (adhesive) stamps for the first eight
classes and the tenth class designated for stamped paper, such
loose stamps to be used for insurance policies, certificates
of stock in banking and other companies, and similar documents on
which their use is required by the government”. (Article
1 continues with a complete list of the other stamps and
stamped paper whose issue and use for the biennial
period beginning on July 1, 1886,
was
authorized).
Article
45: Customs House clearances will be issued loose stamps
authorized by Article 1 the following manners: On each inward
or outward foreign manifest, a 50-centimos stamp;
25-Centimos exportation invoice, declaration of consumption, deposit
or transit, license for departure of vessels, note or manifest of
transfer of goods, and on those (documents) presented for the
exportation of goods from the mercantile deposits or warehouse.
Article
55: Clearing House Certificates (Polizas de Bolsa) will bear
a loose stamp of the value of one peso when the extant of the operation
doss not exceed a nominal sum of P25,000; in excess of this
sum but not amounting to P50,000, a two-pesos stamp; and a three-pesos
stamp from P50,000 upward.” |
Although
the Royal Decree of May 16, 1886, states
that it is to become effective on July 1, 1886, the adhesive
SELLO stamps authorized by Article 1, above quoted, did
not appear until January 1, 1888.
And when they did appear, the denominations from one peso upward
found very little use. The higher denominations
were intended to be use in payment of the stamp tax on
insurance policies, stock certificates, and similar documents,
which had formerly been executed upon stamped paper and could still
be executed upon stamped paper. The provision of Article
4 of the Royal Decree of May 16, 1886,
which gave business firms the privilege of having
SELLO stamps printed directly upon their own stationery, no
doubt decreased the demand for adhesive SELLO stamps. |