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HISTORY BURNS Firefighters battle the fire at the Post Office building in Manila on Monday, May 22, 2023. AFP PHOTO
NATIONAL IDs due for delivery in Manila may have been damaged or destroyed by the fire that gutted the iconic Manila Central Post Office building on Sunday, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said.
In a statement Monday, the PSA said it is coordinating with the Philippine Postal Corp. (PHLPost) on the IDs that may have been lost in the fire.
"Based on the initial information provided by the PHLPost, only PhilIDs for delivery in the City of Manila were affected by the fire," the PSA said.
"We also wish to clarify that PhilIDs for delivery of the PHLPost are sorted and stored at the PHLPost Central Mail Exchange Center (CMEC) in Pasay City and were unaffected by the fire," it said.
It said the destroyed IDs will be replaced free of charge.
Last March, the PSA said it had already printed over 60 million PhilIDs and ePhilIDs, a landmark achievement in the implementation of the Philippine Identification System (PhilSys).
As of March 15, a total of 60,326,990 IDs have been printed — 33,550,575 of which are PhilIDs dispatched for delivery to registered persons, while 26,776,415 are ePhilIDs printed at registration centers.
It took dozens of firefighters almost seven hours to put out the flames that engulfed the landmark.
The fire, which started at 11:41 p.m. Sunday, gutted the nearly century-old building designed by Juan Arellano and Tomas Mapua.
The Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) said at least seven firefighters sustained minor injuries. It estimated losses from the fire at P300 million.
Postmaster General Luis Carlos described the structure as a "true heritage site" frequently visited by tourists.
"We express our grief and are saddened by this unfortunate incident," Carlos said in a statement.
He gave assurances that the PHLPost will continue to function even as it prepares to look for temporary offices.
In the meantime, letter carriers will report to different post offices around Manila.
"There are other post offices in Manila and nearby areas where mail and packages will be temporarily delivered and stored," Carlos said.
"We are closely coordinating with the Bureau of Fire Protection on the possible cause of the fire," he added.
Operations of the Manila Central Post Office will be transferred to the Foreign Surface Mail Distribution Center (FSMDC) in Parañaque City, while its corporate offices will be housed at the building beside the burned establishment and at the canteen area.
Carlos said they will also look into indemnities for the burned parcels.
"In the postal union, there is an indemnity that we call," he said in an interview.
"We'll just have to get the data coming from the central mail exchange on what parcels and customs items are here. So we have to get all of that data and we'll have to work on that one," Carlos said.
The most valuable items that were destroyed were the stamps in the museum, the Manila Central Post Office building itself and their records.
"The museum is the most valuable because it stores the stamps, including artifacts. The records of the post office are also important," he said.
Sen. Robinhood Padilla called for an investigation into the post office fire.
Padilla stressed the need to improve the preservation of the country's cultural properties.
"This recent incident underscores the vulnerability of our national cultural heritage to fire and other hazards and highlights the urgent need to revisit and assess the effectiveness of existing preservation and protection measures," he said.
FROM: THE MANILA TIMES
HISTORY BURNS Firefighters battle the fire at the Post Office building in Manila on Monday, May 22, 2023. AFP PHOTO
NATIONAL IDs due for delivery in Manila may have been damaged or destroyed by the fire that gutted the iconic Manila Central Post Office building on Sunday, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said.
In a statement Monday, the PSA said it is coordinating with the Philippine Postal Corp. (PHLPost) on the IDs that may have been lost in the fire.
"Based on the initial information provided by the PHLPost, only PhilIDs for delivery in the City of Manila were affected by the fire," the PSA said.
"We also wish to clarify that PhilIDs for delivery of the PHLPost are sorted and stored at the PHLPost Central Mail Exchange Center (CMEC) in Pasay City and were unaffected by the fire," it said.
It said the destroyed IDs will be replaced free of charge.
Last March, the PSA said it had already printed over 60 million PhilIDs and ePhilIDs, a landmark achievement in the implementation of the Philippine Identification System (PhilSys).
As of March 15, a total of 60,326,990 IDs have been printed — 33,550,575 of which are PhilIDs dispatched for delivery to registered persons, while 26,776,415 are ePhilIDs printed at registration centers.
It took dozens of firefighters almost seven hours to put out the flames that engulfed the landmark.
The fire, which started at 11:41 p.m. Sunday, gutted the nearly century-old building designed by Juan Arellano and Tomas Mapua.
The Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) said at least seven firefighters sustained minor injuries. It estimated losses from the fire at P300 million.
Postmaster General Luis Carlos described the structure as a "true heritage site" frequently visited by tourists.
"We express our grief and are saddened by this unfortunate incident," Carlos said in a statement.
He gave assurances that the PHLPost will continue to function even as it prepares to look for temporary offices.
In the meantime, letter carriers will report to different post offices around Manila.
"There are other post offices in Manila and nearby areas where mail and packages will be temporarily delivered and stored," Carlos said.
"We are closely coordinating with the Bureau of Fire Protection on the possible cause of the fire," he added.
Operations of the Manila Central Post Office will be transferred to the Foreign Surface Mail Distribution Center (FSMDC) in Parañaque City, while its corporate offices will be housed at the building beside the burned establishment and at the canteen area.
Carlos said they will also look into indemnities for the burned parcels.
"In the postal union, there is an indemnity that we call," he said in an interview.
"We'll just have to get the data coming from the central mail exchange on what parcels and customs items are here. So we have to get all of that data and we'll have to work on that one," Carlos said.
The most valuable items that were destroyed were the stamps in the museum, the Manila Central Post Office building itself and their records.
"The museum is the most valuable because it stores the stamps, including artifacts. The records of the post office are also important," he said.
Sen. Robinhood Padilla called for an investigation into the post office fire.
Padilla stressed the need to improve the preservation of the country's cultural properties.
"This recent incident underscores the vulnerability of our national cultural heritage to fire and other hazards and highlights the urgent need to revisit and assess the effectiveness of existing preservation and protection measures," he said.
FROM: THE MANILA TIMES
