Philippines 1964 Agricultural Land Reform Commemorative Stamps

A 6 sentimo 1964 Philippine agricultural reform stamp with a 5s overprint.

In 1963, Philippines president Diosdado Macapagal signed into effect the Agricultural Land Reform Code. This bill made sweeping reforms to the nation's agricultural system and made farmers a lot less beholden to the traditional landlord system that had existed for centuries. Rather than paying the landlord a percentage of their annual harvest for lease to the landlords, they could now pay a fixed annual rental fee. Among the provisions under the new bill, farmers were given the option to purchase their land and establish their own farms, were protected by national labor laws, were protected from illegal interest rate hikes, and poor famers were given assistance from the newly-established Land Bank of the Philippines to purchase their land if they could not afford to purchase it from the revenue generated by their harvests. This bill has remained one of President Macapagal's greatest achievements and been amended several times over the past few decades.

A year later, the Bureau of Posts (forerunner to the modern-day Philpost) released an issue of three stamps commemorating Macapagal's achievement. This issue features artwork depicting Macapagal signing the bill into effect and a farmer's hand breaking free from the chains that bound him. It was featured in a series of 3, 6, and 30 sentimo stamps. All feature the same artwork, but are printed in different colors. The 3s stamp is green, the 6s stamp blue, and the 30s stamp is red.

All in all this is a very symbolic stamp issue commemorating a great milestone in Filipino history.

Links:
-http://www.philippinestamps.net/RP1964.htm#RP1964