The Motor Vehicle Driver’s License stamps were
in use only during 1922 and 1923. Extremely few specimens appear to have
been preserved. The writer has not seen any entire specimens of these stamps
and he has seen only two halves, the left of a 3-peso stamp and the right
half of a 5-peso stamp. Both of these specimens were cancelled on March
26, 1923, and had evidently been affixed to the Driver’s License issued
in renewal of the delinquent license of a professional chauffer or of an
owner operating his vehicle for hire. The regulations required that each
Driver’s License must be surrendered to the Division of Motor Vehicles
at the time its renewal was issued. Hence, normally, all of the stamps
would eventually be returned to the Division of Motor Vehicles and would
be destroyed. The exceptions would be those cases in which, for some reason,
a Driver’s License was not renewed, or in which a Driver’s License was
lost by the person to whom it was issued. The only specimens of these stamps
which may have been preserved, therefore, would be the halves of stamps
which were affixed to Driver’s Licenses issued during 1922 and 1923 which,
for reasons noted above, were never returned to the Division of Motor Vehicles.
The foregoing description of the manner in which
the Motor Vehicle Driver’s License stamps were used is based, in part,
upon inference. A fire which several years ago gutted the office of the
Bureau of Public Works in Manila, destroyed the records of the Division
of Motor Vehicles. Hence, it has not been possible to obtain any detailed
official information concerning these stamps. On October 24, 1940, the
writer addressed a letter containing several questions concerning these
stamps to the Superintendent of the Division of Motor Vehicles. A reply
was received on October 28, 1940. The questions and answers received are
as follows:
Q:
When were these stamps first issued?
A:
1922
Q:
How long did they remain in use?
A:
About one year.
Q:
What denominations were issued and what was the color of each denomination?
Quantity of each denomination?
A:
Three and Five pesos denominations. Records burned.
Q:
On what documents were they used and in payment of what tax or fee?
A:
Three peso stamp for additional fee of a Driver’s License and five-peso
stamp for penalty for delinquent license.
Q:
A copy of the administrative order or law which created these stamps?
A:
Records burned.
Q:
A copy of the administrative order giving instructions s to the manner
of their use?
A:
Records burned. |
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