SEOUL, 6 December 2013 – Korea’s Bureau of Post awarded on Friday, 6 December 2013 four Filipinos top prizes in the 19th International Postage Stamp Design Contest held between July and October 2013 for postage stamps to be used in South Korea in 2015.

Glen M. Isaac won the Silver Prize, "Stamp Collecting" (General Category). Sarita Quimpo Chiu won two: the Silver Prize for "New Year Greetings of the Year 2015" (Youth Category) and Bronze Prize for "Stamp Collecting" (Youth Category). Jesus Ramos Tejada and Jamile Bianca Tan Aguilar each won a Bronze Prize, "New Year Greetings" (General Category).

Bureau of Post Director General Lee Jae Hong handed the prizes to the Embassy’s First Secretary and Consul Roderico Atienza who represented the four winners at Awards Ceremony at the "Korea Stamp Museum" at the Seoul Central Post Office.

“Through stamp we can understand different cultures and histories from different countries,” Director General Lee told the mostly Korean winners. “I believe our Contest has served to promote such objectives.” Of the 20 winners, 14 were from Korea, 4 from the Philippines and one was from Macau.

Contacted by email by the Embassy, the winners wrote in their reactions to being among the 19 laureates this year out of some 5,100 entries from 13 countries.

Silver Prize winner Glenn Isaac, 34, who won the Grand Prize in 2011, said he was "pleasantly surprised” to know about his win. “I'm proud to be a Filipino!” he added.

Sarita Chiu, who won the Silver and Bronze Prizes, is a 19-year-old student at the Berea Arts and Sciences High School, said: “The announcement of the winning entries came just a few days after my birthday, and finding out my drawings were among them was a wonderful surprise gift.”

“I was so happy to know that once again I win in one of the [most] prestigious [stamp] design competitions in the world,” said Bronze Prize winner Jesus Tejada, 31, an art teacher at Al-Rawabi School in Bahrain. He received an Honorable Mention (General Category) in 2009.

"After I found out about the results, I was pretty surprised. I am truly grateful for this opportunity, and it is something I will cherish forever," said 18-year-old Jamile Aguilar.

The International Postage Stamp Design Contest has been held by Korea Post in order to increase public interest in stamps and seek a wide variety of stamp designs. First held in 1991, the Postage Stamp Design Contest became an international event in 1995, later attracting global interest and developing good buzz in the stamp collecting world.