Reprinted national IDs may be out by Friday

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Postal Corp. might already have in its possession the thousands of reprinted national IDs that were destroyed during the fire that razed the Manila Central Post Office building last week, PhlPost Postmaster General Luis Carlos said yesterday.

Last week, PhlPost wrote to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) and requested for the reprinting of 7,582 national IDs belonging to residents of Manila that were destroyed in the fire last May 21.

It would take the PSA five to six working days to reprint them, according to Carlos.

He said that they would pick up the national IDs from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.

He added that by Friday, they might already have in their possession the reprinted national IDs and would have them distributed.

As for the 2,588 national IDs that arrived last May 22 or May 23, or after the fire, all have been delivered by their mailmen.

The 7,852 national IDs were among those that were destroyed in the more-than-30-hour fire that struck the 97-year-old Manila Central Post Office building.

A week after the blaze, Carlos said they have not yet completed transferring to their temporary offices.

The estimated 200 officials and personnel of the Manila Post Office are already holding office at the Foreign Surface Mail Distribution Center in nearby Delpan, and have since resumed operations.

The plan is for their operations office and Business Mail Service Office to transfer to the Central Mail Exchange Center in Pasay City while their corporate and finance offices, Office of the Postmaster General, General Service Department and Mega Manila offices will occupy the canteen and nearby annex building.

Probe passed onto BFP’s national leadership

Meanwhile, the Manila Fire Department has passed onto the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP)’s national leadership the jurisdiction of the investigation on the fire that hit the iconic Manila Central Post Office building.

This was the response of the local fire unit’s Public Information Office when The STAR asked for update on the blaze.

The BFP has yet to give an update on the investigation, particularly what could have caused the fire that consumed the entire building for over 30 hours last May 21-22.

Meanwhile, heritage advocates continue to urge the government to enforce laws that would ensure protection of heritage structures, like the Manila Central Post Office building, which was built in 1926 and rebuilt in 1946 after it was destroyed during World War II.

The ill-fated edifice should be given financial assistance for reconstruction pursuant to Republic Act 10066 or the National Cultural Heritage Act of 2009, according to heritage conservation campaigner Stephen John Pamorada.

“Under RA 10066, there should be immediate funding for emergency cases. It has been more than 10 years down the road since the law has been enacted,” Pamorada said partly in Filipino.

He added that the government should review current enforcement of the law, especially that a heritage building like the Manila Central Post Office building – declared both a National Historical Landmark (NHL) and an Important Cultural Property (ICP) – had burned down.

Under RA 10066, NHLs and ICPs should be given “priority government funding for protection, conservation and restoration.”

Also, the National Commission for Culture and the Arts “may provide financial assistance in the form of a grant” to organizations that will perform conservation and research efforts.

The law likewise suggests that agreements for heritage conservation “may” be made with “private owners of cultural properties.” –Ghio Ong