Nelson Morales

The Manila Central Post Office building shows fire damage and broken windows on its neoclassical facade in Manila. The historic structure has remained unused since a blaze in 2023 left it severely damaged. Photo Tessa Gia S. Lapig

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Nearly three years since the Manila Central Post Office fire, PHLPost remains in a state of operational limbo. While the historical landmark stands idle, a shrinking and overworked force of mail carriers is left to manage systemic delays and frozen equipment budgets––a logistical breakdown that the state auditors suggest began long before the building ever caught fire.<div>Reporting by Tessa Lapig, Alden Texon, Joshua Camacho, Hannaliz Ariaga, Andros Alsim and Marishka Vinarao</div><div> </div><div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/17770997115281777099709789.jpeg" id="isPasted" class="fr-fic fr-dii" style="width:960px" alt="Mail sent by Kyla Moncawe to her Malaysian pen pal. Kyla Moncawe "/>Mail sent by Kyla Moncawe to her Malaysian pen pal. Kyla Moncawe </div>MANILA — The tricycle engine sputtered to a stop as 18-year-old Kyla Moncawe from Santa Rosa, Laguna stepped off in front of the post office.It had taken her two tricycle rides just to reach the nearest Philippine Postal Corp. (PHLPost) branch.She hesitated whether the P200 she had would be enough to send her letters abroad to pen pals in countries like Finland and Malaysia whom she had met through TikTokShe was sending more than words on paper. She was mailing a scrapbook she crafted over a span of weeks––layers of cut-outs, stickers, washi tapes and calligraphy filled its pages, forming a delicate collage.Every page carried parts of herself—something deeply personal that could not simply be typed and sent. But sending it was a different story.Last December, Moncawe sent a letter to Malaysia through registered mail, a service by PHLPost that is considered the safest mode for sending sensitive documents since each step of the delivery process is recorded and trackable.PHLPost marked it “delivered” by late January but her pen pal messaged her on TikTok in February saying it had never arrived.Moncawe was informed in that same email that her package was declared “lost,” prompting her to make multiple trips to the PHLPost branch after emails and calls went unanswered.After coordinating with both the local branch and the Malaysian Post Office, the local post office advised her to go to the Manila Central Post Office (MCPO) to claim the refund.She would have received P200 back but would have to spend P300 to get it.“Na-shock ako ro’n kasi mas malaki yung gastos ko sa pamasahe pag pumunta pa akong Manila kaysa do’n sa refund na makukuha ko kasi 200 plus lang naman ‘yun,” she said.Exhausted by the stress of the ordeal, she eventually stopped pursuing the matter.“Na-trauma ako,” she said.The lack of any functional customer service only added to her frustration: “Parang wala po talagang ma-cocontact gamit yung number [at] email na nandoon po sa link ng post office, so parang wala pala siyang kwenta.”For many Filipinos, Kyla’s experience is all too familiar. Mail often gets lost or delayed, but PHLPost remains the cheapest—and often the only—option for remote areas, leaving communities with little choice but to endure inefficiency.The problems, however, are older than the smoke that gutted MCPO––the PHLPost’s headquarters––in May 2023. Records from before the fire showed more than 214,000 undelivered items––proof that the delays were systemic rather than caused by the tragedy.According to PHLPost’s reports in the Integrated Corporate Reporting System, mail volumes have been on a steady slide to just 35 million pieces in 2024 from 57 million in 2019.The Commission on Audit, in 2024, flagged several lapses behind the decline, including uncollected client payments, unsettled debts between branches and decade-old outstanding balances.These fiscal failures weighed down not just the mail system, but the very finances meant to keep it running.Yet the agency remains a lifeline, shouldering roughly 45 percent of &quot;last-mile&quot; deliveries in areas where private couriers rarely operate.This heavy reliance magnifies the impact of its shortcomings nationwide—a struggle seen not only in daily operations but in the reconstruction of its home.<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/17770980244211777098022006.jpeg" width="960" id="isPasted" class="fr-fic fr-dii" style="width:960px" alt="Postal workers sort parcels inside the Manila Central Post Office annex. The annex has served as the main workspace since a fire damaged the historic building in 2023. Tessa Gia S. Lapig"/>Postal workers sort parcels inside the Manila Central Post Office annex. The annex has served as the main workspace since a fire damaged the historic building in 2023. Tessa Gia S. Lapig</div>Inside the MCPO annex, workers are squeezed into cramped seats, parcels crowd the floors, worn-out computers sit atop desks and plastic containers spill over with mail.Three years after the fire, this patched-up space has become a makeshift refuge for postal employees.Outside, the neoclassical landmark has lost its grandeur. Blackened walls, charred beams, overgrown grass and graffiti now mark a façade that was once the nation’s gateway to correspondence.Today, the MCPO stands scarred and neglected, still a shell more than 960 days after the blaze. Work has started on restoration but is expected to take until October 2027.While bidding for the restoration closed on March 10 this year, work began in April, with the projected completion not until October 2027.Until then, the temporary structures beside the burnt ruins will continue to serve as the nation&#x27;s primary hub for letters and parcels.<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/17770981886201777098187114.jpeg" width="960" id="isPasted" class="fr-fic fr-dii" style="width:960px" alt="The Manila Central Post Office building shows fire damage and broken windows on its neoclassical facade in Manila. The historic structure has remained unused since a blaze in 2023 left it severely damaged. Photo Tessa Gia S. Lapig"/>The Manila Central Post Office building shows fire damage and broken windows on its neoclassical facade in Manila. The historic structure has remained unused since a blaze in 2023 left it severely damaged. Tessa Gia S. Lapig</div>Despite the drastic changes after the fire, the MCPO still manages to provide local delivery services, unlike in other branches where service remains limited.Ayeesha Libago, a social media influencer from Talamban, Cebu City, still has to stop by her local branch to pick up parcels sent by brands as PHLPost does not deliver to her area.She needs to drive for half an hour to retrieve the packages for gifted collaborations—products that brands send content creators products in exchange for content— and paid collaborations, for which she is usually paid P10,000 to P15,000 per promotional video, all with no guarantee that the packages are at the post office.“I have to guess whether it’s at PHLPost and whether I have to go pick it up or not. It’s really inconvenient for me having to drive all the way, not knowing if my package is there when I have deadlines for my videos and content,” she said.<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/17770982940591777098292833.jpeg" width="960" id="isPasted" class="fr-fic fr-dii" style="width:960px;display:inline-block;height:auto"/>Graffiti covers a section of the wall and balustrade outside the Manila Central Post Office. The markings, including names and symbols, highlight the neglect of the historic site since a fire damaged the building in 2023. Tessa Gia S. Lapig</div>Aside from worrying about missing deadlines, she also has to worry about the parcel getting lost.A British fashion brand called “In Print We Trust” once sent her a package of clothes worth around P7,000, expecting a review of the products on her social media. When she arrived, postal workers claimed they could not find it.“It’s very frustrating, especially since I used to live in England, where the national postal service was really good,” she added.She now avoids ordering expensive items online, haunted by the fear of lost parcels or unexpected high taxes — she once had to pay P5,000 for an item valued at P12,000.Because of the logistical debacles she experienced, Libago said she wishes for PHLPost to update its operating system and finally prioritize customer service.“It would only take a few seconds to send a text message telling me my parcel is ready for pickup,” she noted.As restoration efforts for the MCPO crawl forward, ten-wheeler trucks still rumble into the complex every morning as early as 6 a.m.Acting Postmaster General Maximo Sta. Maria III emphasized that PHLPost must maintain these daily operations alongside the ongoing rehabilitation simply to “earn their keep.”“We need to earn, for us to improve our services, our facilities, our resources,” Sta. Maria added.Clark Edward Uytico, a public corporate lawyer and law professor, said government‑owned and controlled corporations like PHLPost operate under charters that give them corporate independence.Uytico, who specializes in government procurement, audit legal frameworks of state‑owned corporations, explained that PHLPost generates its own revenue through shipments and parcels and maintains a corporate operating budget approved by the Department of Budget and Management.But Uytico added that COA often constrains how that money can be used.“Because of COA, these corporations are very afraid. They can’t issue money because they will be disallowed,” he said.Disallowances mean the money has to be returned.In recent years, PHLPost has faced repeated disallowances. In 2022, COA struck down P630,000 in premiums for group accident insurance. The following year, nearly P50 million in transactions were disallowed. In 2024, auditors rejected another P49 million in expenses, citing problems in property records, payables, and receivables.Even though PHLPost has its own income and internal auditing, Uytico noted, the risk of disallowances discourages managers from spending quickly, slowing rehabilitation and stalling projects.Before the fire, the MCPO served as the nation’s central exchange hub, but it has since been forced to pivot, catering only to deliveries within Manila.MCPO Chief of Operations Elsie Alabado explained that the “big three” branches—Manila, Quezon City, and Makati—now coordinate with the Central Mail Exchange Center in Pasay, near the airport, for all deliveries outside the capital.This logistical strain is matched by a shrinking workforce as the MCPO — 87 mail carriers from 100.Sta. Maria III noted that PHLPost has had to sacrifice major upgrades, particularly as provincial branches struggle with internet instability and a lack of manpower.In these areas, employees are forced to take on multiple roles to keep the system moving.“So imagine, sa isang far-flung area, siya na yung nagde-deliver, siya na yung postmaster, siya na yung teller, siya pa nage-encode,” Sta. Maria III said.“Pero, we’re addressing that. Kasi nga, that’s the strength [of PHLPost],” he added.While the government mandates that PHLPost maintain a presence in provincial areas, the fire took a toll that was deeply personal rather than just operational.For hundreds of office workers—many of whom have spent their entire careers at the post office—the fire felt as if their own homes were burning in front of them.Alabado is one of them. Having worked for the agency for three decades, she considers the MCPO her second home. When asked to recall the night of the fire, she had to stop to fight back tears, saying she began her career at PHLPost as a mail sorter, rising through the ranks over 30 years to eventually become the chief of operations.Her three-decade tenure funded her children’s education, a story she says is common among her colleagues.When the fire struck at midnight on Sunday, May 21, she watched in disbelief. By May 22, the building was still ablaze, and with it went a century’s worth of letters, parcels, stamps, and memories.Yet, even as their office was razed to the ground, mail continued to pour in from across the globe. There was no time to mourn.By the next day, the staff had already packed their supplies and moved to the Surface Mail Exchange Department at the Port of Manila. By the 24th, operations had officially resumed.“Yung 16 offices ng Metro Manila, resume pa rin. Kaya nga kami nag-resume kahit sa ilalim ng puno kami nagtatatak, kasi nga, kung ano yung tinatanggap namin, gano’n pa rin,” Elsie recalled.While workers like Elsie had no choice but to move forward, the historical building and its once-trusted operations remain largely idle.Declared an Important Cultural Property by the National Museum of the Philippines in 2018 and a National Historical Landmark by the National Historical Commission of the Philippines in 2012, the building’s restoration prompted PHLPost to tap the government for specialized engineers, equipment and materials.<div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/2024/11/11/workers-yearn-for-manila-central-post-office-s-rise-from-the-ashes-1358">Workers yearn for Manila Central Post Office&#x27;s rise from the ashes </a></div>PHLPost’s resource constraints extend beyond the restoration of its historic building and into the day-to-day operations inside the cramped annex.Sta. Maria stressed that PHLPost is not unaware of the complaints, but operating within bureaucratic systems means efforts to address them are often slowed by procedural requirements.“Andami mong dadaanan if you add new supplies, if you want something, you have to request, it has to be validated,” said Sta. Maria on plans to fix deeper operational issues.Despite having an allocation of P2.2 billion for the building’s restoration, plans to address deeper operational issues remain caught in a cycle of approvals, proposals and delays.Uytico pointed to procurement as the root of the inefficiency. He explained that even though PHLPost earns its own revenue and maintains a corporate operating budget, every contract for design, construction, or materials must go through government procurement rules.That process, he said, leaves rehabilitation incomplete years after the fire.The absence of private‑sector involvement, he added, only deepens the problem. With the government owning all of PHLPost’s shares, board members are appointed solely by the president.“If you had private shares, the private sector could elect minority members. Mayroon kang checks and balances pagdating sa control and appointments. Right now, wala,” he said.That lack of accountability, Uytico warned, leaves PHLPost vulnerable not just to delay but to irrelevance. Private couriers dominate the market, and unless PHLPost adapts, it risks fading entirely. He argued that survival means competing directly in the courier system by partnering with e‑commerce platforms like Shopee, Lazada and Amazon.“[PHLPost] can avoid being obsolete only by being relevant. If they know their purpose, then they can define their role— otherwise, they risk fading into obscurity,” Uytico said.

Nearly three years since the Manila Central Post Office fire, PHLPost remains in a state of operational limbo. While the historical landmark stands idle, a shrinking and overworked force of mail carriers is left to manage systemic delays and frozen equipment budgets.

Nearly three years since the Manila Central Post Office fire, PHLPost remains in a state of operational limbo. While the historical landmark stands idle, a shrinking and overworked force of mail carriers is left to manage systemic delays and frozen equipment budgets.

Stalled Delivery: The systemic breakdown of PHLPost

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Stalled Delivery: The systemic breakdown of PHLPost

Contributors from UST Journalism School

Published April 25, 2026 02:58 PM PHT

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Updated April 27, 2026 07:25 PM PHT

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PHLPost

Philippine Postal Corp.

Manila Central Post Office

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