Post-war Philippine passport
Early 1947 travel document issued by Elpidio Quirino.
The Philippines have a very long and rich history. From being a Colony in the past, the Philippines finally reached independence in the mid-20th century, but only after going through a brutal Japanese occupation that brought suffering and pain to its people.
Colonialism started in the 16th Century following discovery and the arrival of the Spaniards in 1521. The first Spanish establishment or physical presence was after 1565, with the arrival from Mexico of Miguel López de Legazpi . The first Philippine Republic was established towards the end of the 19th Century but this short lived republic did not last long due to the Philippine-American War that followed. The United Sates maintained possession of the Islands up to the end of WW2 (there was a brief interruption during the Japanese occupation).
July 4th 1946 was the date that the US officially recognized its former colony as an independent state, though the previous year it was one of the founding members of the United Nations (Although it gained Washington’s recognition, as mentioned above, the islands housed many US military bases and facilities ).
Official passport issuing as an independent state begun in 1946, so the passport in this article is relatively one of the earliest that I have seen to have been issued shortly after its independence.
Passport number 2324, same as the booklet number itself, was issued on January 16th 1947 at Manila.
The issuing figure is a famous and well known government official with a rich history:
Elpidio Quirino – First Secretary of Foreign Affairs to the Manuel Roxas administration of 1946 (also elected as vice president the same year) who personally singed the passport, as seen on page 2. He was the 2nd president of the Third Republic.
I have added images of this rare and important post-war Philippine passport.
Thank you for reading “Our Passports”.
