THE CHAMPIONS OF POSTAL SERVICE. The Philippine Postal Corporation (Philpost) and the Department of Justice (DoJ) officials recently signed the Memorandum of Agreement on the services to be provided by the postal force to the justice department of the government. This will seal the commitment of Philpost to the Department of Justice in giving efficient service among its clients. Present during the signing are (L-R) Chairman of the Board of Directors Cesar Sarino from the Philpost, Postmaster General and CEO Josie Dela Cruz from Philpost, Secretary Leila De Lima of DOJ and Assistant Secretary Zabedin Azis of the DoJ along with other officials from the two agencies.

The Philippine Postal Corporation (PhilPost) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) today signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA)  for the renewal of contract for mailing transactions between the two agencies.

The agreement was signed by Postmaster General Josefina M. Dela Cruz in behalf of Philpost while Justice Secretary Leila M. De Lima signed for the DOJ.  PMG Dela Cruz acknowledged the Department of Justice as a valuable partner in the public sector spanning more than a century of postal service to the Justice Department.

She also stressed that PhilPost has come up with innovative projects to provide value added services to its clients to effectively deliver mails and parcels anywhere in the country and abroad.

“We are more than hopeful that we can position ourselves competitively in the market, as now a logistic company, and attain our goals of efficient and honest postal service to the public“, Postmaster General Dela Cruz said.

The Justice Department offers to pay PhilPost for its franking privileges (free mails) except those provided for under the Commonwealth Act. No.265.

Under the MOA, the Office of the Secretary of Justice will pay PhilPost a total of P5.6 million annually for the delivery of international and domestic mails for the year 2012.

The mails being sent by DOJ shall indicate on the upper right hand portion of the envelope “Office of the Secretary of Justice” per MOA between PhilPost and the office of the Secretary of Justice.

With this year’s theme “Knowledge and Fun through Stamp Collecting”, the organizers aim to promote and inculcate the hobby of stamp collecting especially among the younger generation.

KNOWLEDGE. In stamp collecting you will gain knowledge by learning about one’s country, its history and culture, its art and heritage and even its natural environment.

FUN. It is fun to collect stamps for it will fascinate you and gain an appreciation of the creative work postal offices around the world put into producing stamps. From the simple rectangular shape to the circular shape and triangular stamps, the task requires utmost knowhow and creativity.

The exhibit will be free to the public and will feature past winning entries from the Federation of Inter-Asian Philately (FIAP) International Stamp Exhibition, Fédération Internationale de Philatélie (FIP) and other priceless collections, both local and international collections, never before displayed in public.

The exhibition will run from January 24 to February 3, 2012 at the lobby of the Philippine Postal Corporation Building in Liwasang Bonifacio 1000 Manila. For more information about the event, please contact the Philippine Philatelic Federation secretary Mrs. Josefina T. Cura at 735-5001 / 0917-9800708.

The launching of the Lyceum of the Philippines University 60th Anniversary Stamps is PhilPost way of recognizing its long and rich tradition of academic excellence.

The design of the stamps shows the magnificent tower of LPU that has withstood the test of times and is enveloped in the number 60, colored golden yellow representing the anniversary celebration with the map of the Philippines in the background. A white ribbon with the inscription, “A Jose P. Laurel Legacy” honors the man who is the inspiration behind Lyceum of the Philippines University which was founded in 1952.

Founded by Jose P. Laurel, 3rd president of the Republic of the Philippines, with the aim to be the center of academic excellence in the Philippines and the Far East and upheld national morale and character among its students, LPU now has five campuses including Makati, Batangas, Laguna, Cavite and the main campus in Manila.

The LPU 60th Anniversary Stamps would be sold in denomination of P7. With around 104,000 pieces initially printed, the stamp will be sold until January of next year or until stocks last.

The official launching of the stamp will be on the 24th of January 2012 coinciding with the various activities designed by LPU 60th Anniversary Committee, including university foundation and intramurals.

The Philippine Postal Corporation (PhilPost) welcomes the new year with the launching of special 2012 Commemorative New Year Stamps for the coming of the Year of the Dragon in the Chinese lunar calendar.

Postmaster General Josefina Dela Cruz said that the head of a fire-breathing dragon can be seen in the P7 stamp, while the full picture of a dragon has been printed on the P30 stamp. The words “2012 Year of the Dragon” are written at the bottom of both designs.

Imprinted is the greeting of “Manigong Bagong Taon” and its English translation “Happy New Year” written on the P7 and P30 stamps, respectively.

According to the Chinese Zodiac, the Year of 2012 is the Year of the Dragon, which begins on January 23, 2012 and ends on February 9, 2013. In ancient China, the celestial Dragon represents power. The Chinese believes it is the ultimate auspicious symbol signifying success and happiness.

New Year stamps are popular with philatelists or postage stamp collectors, especially those who collect by subjects or themes.

Around 35,000 pieces have initially been printed for both the P7 and the P30 stamps, while there are 5,000 souvenir sheets, each worth P74.

People born in the Year of the Dragon share certain characteristics: Innovative, enterprising, self-assured, brave, passionate, conceited, and quick-tempered.

This came about after a recent meeting between  PLDT Chairman Manny V. Pangilinan, and Philpost Postmaster General (PMG) & CEO Ma. Josefina M. Dela Cruz

Under the partnership project initiated by Dela Cruz , PLDT will provide Philpost with laptops and internet connectivity to link the 188 post offices in the country. The network to be set up will also be utilized in the logistics business, money remittance and other services offered by the PhilPost.

After meeting with Pangilinan, more popularly referred to as “MVP” in the business community, Dela Cruz said the project “will surely help us in upgrading our facilities and be able to deliver and upgrade our services to PhilPost customers.”

As Philpost is gearing to developing new businesses, it is also upgrading its facilities and bringing in new technology in business operations.

“This is just an initial tie up with PLDT. We see the vital role of IT in our business. We hope that through the help of Chairman Pangilinan,  we shall be able to connect all of our post offices in the country to better serve our customers. This will ensure that our patrons will receive faster, more reliable and trustworthy service from the PhilPost, ”  Dela Cruz added.

PNP Chief Nicanor Bartolome has issued a directive to PNP Regional directors and the Highway Patrol Group (HPG) to provide necessary police security assistance to Philpost.

Postmaster General (PMG) Josie Dela Cruz expresses the gratitude for the PNP’s positive response to her request for assistance. “Our mail delivery vans are now being monitored by PNP to prevent hijacking and holdup incidents. In the past the prevalence of such activity is high during the holiday season” PMG Dela Cruz stated.

According to reports, over the past years during holiday season from October to January, about a million mail matters per month were being delivered by Philpost to its clients. 60 percent of these mail matters were commercial items including cosmetics, clothes, gadgets and other electronic devices. However, during those months, Philpost recorded an average of five hijacking incidents during the season.

With the new collaboration, the PNP is given the delivery schedule of Philpost enabling police officials to closely monitor movements of mail matters.

“We are happy to announce that as of December 1 of this year, since we started this partnership with the PNP, we have not had any incident of hijacking nor holdups. This is just to proved that the partnership is efficient and we are committed in giving a faster, more reliable and trustworthy service to out clientle” the Postmaster General added.

The Philippine postal system has a history spanning over 200 years. In 1767, the first post office was established in the city of Manila, which was later organized under a new postal district of Spain, encompassing Manila and the entire Philippine archipelago, in 1779. The postal district was reestablished on December 5, 1837. A year later, Manila became known as a leading center of postal services within Asia. Spain joined the Universal Postal Union in 1875, which was announced in the Philippines two years later.

During the Philippine Revolution, President Emilio Aguinaldo ordered the establishment of a postal service to provide postal services to Filipinos during that time. It was later organized as a bureau under today’s Department of Trade and Industry, then known as the Department of Trade, on September 5, 1902, by virtue of Act No. 426, which was passed by the Philippine Commission. The Philippines eventually joined the Universal Postal Union, this time as a sovereign entity, on January 1, 1922.

While the Manila Central Post Office building, the center of Philippine postal services and the headquarters of the then-Bureau of Posts, was completed in its present-day Neo-Classical style in 1926, it was destroyed during World War II. It was rebuilt in 1946, after the war.

With the overhaul of the Philippine bureaucracy in 1987, the Bureau of Posts was renamed the Postal Service Office, or PSO, by virtue of Executive Order No. 125, which was issued by then-President Corazon Aquino on April 13, 1987. It was also that order that placed the PSO under the DOTC. On April 2, 1992, by virtue of Republic Act No. 7354, the PSO became the present-day Philpost. The law also gave it the authority to reopen the then-closed Philippine Postal Savings Bank, which was reopened on July 21, 1994 by then-President Fidel V. Ramos.

Herewith is the Philpost official program commemorating the 228th anniversary of the postal service at the Main Post Office Building, Liwasang Bonifacio, Manila:

November 8, 2011

5:30 A.M. – Special TV Coverage
- Phil. Inventor’s Society
- IT Kiosk
- Street Dancing
- PhilHealth

7:30 A.M. – Flag Raising Ceremony
- Awarding Of:
- Winners of the UPU Letter Writing Contest
- Outstanding Postal Employees
- Cutting of Ribbon and Opening of Philatelic Exhibit

9:00 A.M. – On the Spot letter Writing Contest
- Elementary
- High School
Medical Services
- Free Fasting Blood Sugar
- Free Eye Check-Up and Lecture on Dental Hygiene
- Fat Analysis with Free Lecture

Tour of Students/ Lecture on Philately and Stamps Collecting

1:00 P.M. – Sports Parade

2:00 P.M. – Thanksgiving Mass

3:00 P.M. – Retirees Day

November 9, 2011

8:00 A.M. – 2:00 P.M. – Blood Letting
- Sports Competition

November 10, 2011

8:00 A.M. – 12:00 N.N. – Buhay Post Office (Immersion-Reversion)

1:00 P.M. – 5:00 P.M. – Sports Competition

2:00 P.M. – 6:00 P.M. – Partner’s Day

November 11, 2011

8:00 A.M. – 12:00 N.N. – Sports Competition

1:30 P.M. – Onwards – Employees Day Out
- Pinoy Games
- Raffle
- Singing Contest
(B.M. Dones)

Chairman Cesar Sarino (far left) and PMG Josie Dela Cruz (far right) present the Benigno Simeon Aquino III commemorative stamp as a token of appreciation to Mayor Alfredo Lim of Manila as represented by Ms. Gemma Cruz Araneta (middle) for being the guest of honor in the 228th founding anniversary of the Philippine Postal Service.

The ribbon cutting ceremony of the trade fair hosted by the Filipino Inventors during the 228th anniversary of Philippine Postal. Cutting the ribbon is PMG Josie Dela Cruz (second from the left) and APMG for Finance Lisa Tungol (third from the right) together with APMG for Administration Mike Lalanto (second from the right) and the Filipino Inventors Society.

PPC Most Outstanding Employee. During the 228th anniversary of the Philippine Postal system, Philippine Postal Corporation (PPC) pays tribute to the exemplary works of its employees with the Outstanding Postal Employees 2011. In the picture (L-R) Director Ronaldo Tuazon of PPC, Chairman Cesar Sarino, Ms. Gemma Cruz-Araneta, awardee Antonio Tenebro, Postmaster I from Cotobato City, Postmaster General and CEO Ma. Josefina M. Dela Cruz and Ms. Tess Debuque, National Information Officer – United Nations Information Center.

(From left) Hon. Felipe A, Hidalgo, Jr., Hon. Joel L. Otarra, Hon. Mory Q. Sison, and Hon. Ronaldo S. Tuazon, the new members of the Philpost Board of Directors.

In addition to new Philpost Board Chairman Hon. Cesar N. Sarino and Postmaster General and CEO Hon. Ma. Josefina M. Dela Cruz, four new members of the Board of Directors were presented during simple rites at the lobby of the Main Post Office Building in Liwasang Bonifacio, Manila last October 17, 2011.

The new members of the Board are Hon. Felipe A. Hidalgo, Jr., Hon. Joel L. Otarra, Hon. Mory Q. Sison, and Hon. Ronaldo Tuazon.

This new set of Board of Directors considered themselves as a “working board” and will try to help revitalize the postal service. (B.M. Dones)

The Philippine Postal Corporation recently launched the maiden issue of Philpost COURIER, the official newsletter of the postal service. With this publication, Philpost employees will be updated of all the developments within the postal community.

The newsletter includes a special column of the Postmaster General herself, Hon. Ma. Josefina M. Dela Cruz entitled “Sulat Ni Josie”.

Furthermore, in its desire to reach out to our “kababayans” here and abroad, Philpost now is also into social networking with its Facebook page, “Philpost Official” and Twitter account, @Ppostofficial. (B.M. Dones)

Postmaster General and CEO Hon. Ma. Josefina M. Dela Cruz (center-front row) along with the Philpost Regional Directors held a Strategic Planning session last October 11 to 12 at the St.Paul Center for Renewal, Ilaya, Alfonso, Cavite.

Postmaster General and CEO Hon. Ma. Josefina M. Dela Cruz (5th from left-second row) conducted a Mission and Vision Workshop for Philpost MANCOM officials last October 4 to 5 at the St.Paul Center for Renewal, Ilaya, Alfonso, Cavite.