A MASSIVE fire of still undermined origin razed the historic Manila Central Post Office building at the Liwasang Bonifacio overnight, leaving seven people slightly injured and causing damage estimated at P300 million.
Bureau of Fire-National Capital Region director Chief Supt. Nahum Tarroza said the fire started before midnight Sunday in the basement of the neoclassical, five-story, nearly 100-year-old landmark and was brought under control yesterday morning, nearly eight hours after it began.
“It’s totally burned. It’s unfortunate since this is a historical landmark,” said Tarroza, adding the fire spread to a nearby structure about six meters away.
Tarroza said they are “looking into all angles — arson and accident” — to determine the cause of the fire.
He said five firefighters (FO2 Joel Libutan, FO1 Carlo Abrenica, SFO2 Julio Erlanda, FO2 Jeremy Roque, and FO1 Josaphat Araña), a fire volunteer (Toto Doslin), and a civilian (Elain Dacoycoy) sustained minor injuries or were overwhelmed by thick smoke.
The Central Post Office, one of Manila’s busiest office buildings, was closed when the fire started. It is the country’s main mail-sorting and distribution hub and the central office for the Philippine Postal Corporation.
The building, now recognized as a national landmark, was built in 1926 with high columns in the traditional neoclassical style. Severely damaged during World War II, it was rebuilt in 1946.
“We are going to have it inspected by structural engineers. They are the experts in the determination if it should be condemned or if it can still be repaired,” Tarroza said, adding the fire started in the basement at around 11:41 p.m. and quickly spread to the other floors.
The fire was declared under control at around 7:22 a.m. yesterday, with smoke still coming out of the structure.
“The problem we encountered is water supply. The area is big, it’s about 1,400 square meters per floor, so that’s times four,” said Tarroza, adding they used water from the Pasig River to battle the fire.
Postmaster General Luis Carlos said it was the first time the historic building was engulfed by fire.
“The main building, it’s the first time it has caught fire. It was damaged entirely, up to the fifth floor,” said Carlos.
He said no one among PHLPost personnel have been injured based on their initial assessment.
But he said the damage on their assets was extensive, including mail, parcels, stamps, and office equipment.
He stressed that the most crucial damage the fire caused was in the iconic building itself.
“At the end of the day, it’s the building structure itself because it’s a heritage building,” said Carlos.
In November 2018, the National Museum of the Philippines recognized it as an “Important Cultural Property.”
Asked where the PHLPost will hold office, Carlos said they will utilize what is left of the properties of the government-owned and controlled corporation.
“There is a canteen at the back and a small building at the right side, we would make use of that,” he said.
As for their possible return to the decades-old building, he said they will need to consult structural engineers.
“This affects us a lot. We just have to start from somewhere. We have to pick up our things,” said Carlos.
CONTINUED SERVICE
“We express grief and are saddened by this unfortunate incident. We didn’t expect this to happen but we assure the public that all PHLPost branches will be business as usual. There is a nearby post office in Manila and other parts in Metro Manila where the public can send their mail and packages,” Carlos said.
“The Manila Central Post Office and its main offices will look for temporary offices and our letter carriers will be housed at the nearby post office,” he added.
“PHLPost will continue with its regular operations,” the agency said in a statement.
The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said it is working with the PHLPost to determine the number of PhilIDs affected by the fire.
In a statement, the PSA said that based on initial information provided by the PHLPost, only PhilIDs for delivery in the city of Manila were affected by the fire.
“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,” the PSA.
The PSA assured that PhilIDs lost to the fire will be replaced for free.
“We assure the public that the PhilIDs affected by the fire shall be replaced by the PSA at no additional cost to concerned registered persons, following protocols set by the PSA for such scenarios,” the agency said.
Last week, in a PSA statement, the PHLPost said the delivery of PhilIDs is of the highest priority and their local postmasters will be working more actively with 86 provincial field offices of the PSA.
From the 37.02 million PhilIDs dispatched by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas for delivery, the PHLPost has delivered 30.16 million PhilIDs to PhilSys-registered Filipinos nationwide.
REHAB WORK
Sen. Juan Edgardo Angara yesterday said the Senate will discuss with the Department of Budget and Management ways to look for funds for the rehabilitation of the Manila Central Post Office.
In a tweet, Angara, Committee on Finance chairman, said Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri asked him to coordinate with the DBM so they can source the needed funds for the MCPO.
“SP Zubiri messaged that we have to work with the budget department towards finding funds to help restore the Post Office. Agree, it’s a national treasure — designed by national artist Juan Arellano,” Angara said.
Senate President Pro Tempore Loren Legarda, meanwhile, called on authorities to investigate the cause of the fire “so that this occurrence will never happen again.
“I am deeply saddened by the news that the Manila Central Post Office, one of the historic buildings in the country and declared an important Cultural Property, was engulfed by a massive fire that started late Sunday night,” Legarda said in a statement.
“Having been built in 1926, this building is one of the oldest and most iconic structures in the Philippines that has been an essential part of our history, surviving many calamities and the Battle of Manila during World War II… We must protect our historical sites such as this significant architectural heritage,” she added.
‘RISE FROM THE ASHES’
Deputy Speaker Ralph Recto said the National Post Office Building, a national historical landmark, “must rise from the ashes” using either the Executive’s P13 billion contingent fund or the P19 billion calamity fund.
“Government should rebuild the National Post Office Building. Fast, and not in slow mail fashion. So when they come knocking on the doors of Malacañang for help, the postmen must not ring twice,” Recto said in a statement.
Recto said the President can tap his P13 billion contingent fund, which is the national emergency fund of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council’s (NDRRMC) calamity fund, which has an available balance of P19.03 billion at the beginning of this year.
He said the calamity fund should be tapped because the fire which hit the national historical landmark “is undoubtedly a certifiable disaster.”
Under RA 10066, or the National Cultural Heritage Act of 2009, “national historical landmarks, sites or monuments” shall be entitled to “priority government funding for protection, conservation and restoration.”
Recto said taipans can also help in the reconstruction, and their donations, under Section 35 of RA 10066, “shall be exempt from the donor’s tax and the same shall be considered as allowable deduction from the gross income in the computation of the income tax of the donor.”
“This was how Italian Roman and Renaissance-era sites were restored – under the auspices of companies, which regarded those as prestige and patriotic projects,” he said.
Recto said the Philippine Postal Corporation has no money to fund the restoration, noting that in 2020, it suffered P240 million in losses and only earned P106 million the following year.
In its renaissance, the former senator said the Post Office “can even be mixed-use or be multipurpose in function, enhancing its value, for as long as the original design is maintained.”
“The Post Office is an artwork designed and built by Filipino geniuses. It was an architectural jewel of the bygone Pearl of the Orient. This is not the first time it was destroyed. Firebombed by US and Japanese forces, it was reduced to rubble during the Battle of Manila. But even though short of cash, the newly-born Philippine Republic made sure that it would rise from the ashes of war, because such would be proof of a new nation’s determination to rebuild. Because they believed then, as we must do now, that to let it physically disappear, is to purge it from our people’s memory,” he said.
Manila Rep. Bienvenido Abante Jr. called the fire “a national tragedy” that the government should address by funding its repair, rehabilitation, and restoration “so that it can continue to serve as a beautiful monument to our nation’s history.”
While it is heartbreaking to see the extent of the damage sustained by the Post Office, Abante also sympathized with all those whose communications, correspondence, or valuables were lost in the fire, urging the Philippine Postal Corporation to exert all efforts possible to identify and reach out to all the individuals whose mail or packages can no longer be recovered.
“The Manila Central Post Office will require resources, financial and otherwise, to be properly rebuilt. I commit to join this effort and to work with my fellow legislators and coworkers in government to ensure that the Manila Central Post Office is restored to its former glory,” he said. — With Raymond Africa, Wendell Vigilia, Victor Reyes and Angela Celis
