Five centuries have passed since the most daring nautical expedition, planned and commanded by Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan and later completed by the Spaniard Juan Sebastián Elcano, became the first circumnavigation of the earth.
Demonstrating Magellan’s genius, experience and knowledge of the best nautical technology, his enterprising nature, his daring, determination and leadership, this voyage also reflects the strength of team spirit in the face of an extraordinary challenge that, 500 years later, make it one of the most significant events for humanity. In its various aspects, it opened up new ways of getting to know the world, particularly those associated with culture, heritage and economy, bringing together different populations to establish intercultural relationships and share world views.
This milestone, a memory shared among the people of different countries and continents, can still be seen today in countless symbolic and cultural events and rituals, along the entire route of the first circumnavigation.
After discovering the Strait of Magellan, in October 1520, Ferdinand Magellan started his crossing of the Pacific Ocean which, ending on 16 March 1521 with his arrival in the Philippines, unveiled and added approximately 50% to the world as it was known at that time, confirming that our planet is spherical and presenting humankind with a hitherto unknown “Ocean” Planet.
This crossing was marked by the tenacity and resilience of the crew accompanying Magellan. During the four-month-long voyage from South America, they overcame hunger, thirst and illness, in a real test of the limits of human strength. On reaching the archipelago, Ferdinand Magellan consolidated various alliances, most notably with Rajah Humabon, King of Cebu. This alliance was strengthened by the conversion of the king and his queen, Hara Humamay, to the Catholic faith in a ceremony that included a symbolic act that, even today, is the greatest manifestation of Catholicism in the Philippines – Magellan's gift to the Queen of Cebu of an image of the Holy Child of Cebu.
It was through this alliance that Ferdinand Magellan became involved in a local conflict between the King of Cebu and Chief Lapu Lapu, from the neighbouring island of Mactan, which led to his demise on 27 April 1521.
Regardless of the historical perspective of these events, however, the extraordinary feats achieved by the Portuguese navigator until that fateful day produced a vast legacy of union between peoples, cultures and traditions, which has endured over five centuries and can still be felt today.
It is this legacy, and above all the representation of the gift of the image of the Holy Child to the Queen of Cebu, that serves as inspiration for the CTT stamp issue “500th anniversary of Ferdinand Magellan’s arrival in the Philippines” with which the Task Force for the Celebrations of the 5th centenary of the First Circumnavigation Voyage | 2019-
-2022 is associated, embodying the exceptional quality of the artistic expressions chosen for the various stamps. A selection of images and philatelic artwork worthy of our admiration and congratulations
