PhlPost welcomes Congress probe on post office fire

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Postal Corp. welcomes the Senate and House of Representatives’ initiative to investigate the fire that gutted the historic and iconic Manila Central Post Office late Sunday evening, but prefers waiting first for the report from arson investigators.

“I think it’s a welcome to know what really happened. But at the end of the day, the final say would be coming from the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP),” Postmaster General Luis Carlos said yesterday.

Arson investigators from the BFP as well as the Department of the Interior and Local Government and Manila City government conducted their own investigation on the fire that engulfed the 97-year-old Manila Central Post Office building, which is regarded as a cultural treasure.

Carlos said that they have been told that it would take the BFP about two weeks to complete its investigation and release findings.

So far, the BFP has pinpointed the southern side of the basement as the area where the fire started.

“(Since) there are a lot of offices or agencies of government, including the two chambers (of Congress) that are already asking (about the fire), maybe the BFP would hasten its investigation. But then, that is up to them (BFP),” Carlos said.

The fire and the future of the Manila Central Post Office, which the National Museum declared as an Important Cultural Property, have captured the interest of several lawmakers and the public. Built in 1926, it was designed by Filipino architects Juan Arellano and Tomas Mapua.

Manila engineer Armand Andres said the gutted building could either be restored or condemned after the city’s Department of Engineering and Public Works team reported that various items like chairs, tables and cabinets were burned, the walls charred and cracked, and ceilings collapsed.

The team is yet to “check the structural integrity” of the heritage edifice, which was erected in 1926 and rebuilt in 1946 after sustaining heavy damage during World War 2.

Andres noted that the foundations or beams of the Manila Central Post Office building could have “weakened” due to its old age and after being exposed to fire that consumed the entire structure for over 30 hours.

He said the city government wanted to save what is left of the Manila Central Post Office building, but would also like to ensure the safety of people who would visit or use the revered structure.

Previously, Manila Mayor Honey Lacuna-Pangan gave assurance that the Central Post Office would not be replaced by any other structure, explaining that the area within the heritage building has been declared an “institutional zone” by a city zoning ordinance.

The declaration of National Historical Landmark and Important Cultural Property also prohibits any entity, even the local and national governments, from erecting any other structure aside from the declared heritage building, Lacuna-Pangan said.

Meanwhile, Carlos said they were able to resume their mail delivery operations last Wednesday and have distributed 2,588 national IDs that were printed by the Philippine Identification System to Manila residents.

As for the national IDs that were destroyed during the 30-hour fire, Carlos said PhlSys would print it “in the next few days.”

As of yesterday, the estimated 200 officials and personnel of the Manila Post Office are already at the Foreign Surface Mail Distribution Center in Delpan, Manila and they have resumed operations.

The operations office and Business Mail Service Office would be transferred to the Central Mail Exchange Center in Pasay City while the corporate, finance, office of the Postmaster General, general service department, and mega Manila offices would occupy the canteen and nearby annex building. –  Ghio Ong