PhilPost unions’ leaders ask Senate to probe PMG Dela Cruz’s anomalies

Senate investigation in aid of legislation on the anomalies, crimes and excesses (ACES) and human rights violations of postmaster general Maria Josefina Mendoza Dela Cruz against the employees of the Philippine Postal Corporation is urgently requested by PhilPost employees organizations’ leaders.

In a letter received recently by Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile and Senate Committee on Accountability of Public Officers and Investigations chairman Teofisto Guingona III, Alab ng Mamamahayag (ALAM) PhilPost chapter president Tirso N. Paglicawan, Jr., pres. of PhilPost Workers Union (PWU); PWU secretary general Dante Dean M. Barola, PhilPost Rank-and-File Employees Association, Inc. – Confederation for Unity, Recognition and Advancement of Government Employees (PRAFEA – COURAGE) pres. Manuel G. Rama and PRAFEA secgen Cesar C. Gomez, they have requested the Senate President and the chairman of the Blue Ribbon Committee to urgently conduct investigations on several and repeated ACES of Dela Cruz.

ALAM is a group of practicing professional journalists and media men and of the unrepresented and oppressed ordinary Filipino citizens in the country and abroad whose belief is that only through genuine press freedom that the nation will truly be independent and progressive. Meanwhile, PWU and PRAFEA are employees’ organizations at PhilPost which serve as defenders of the rank-and-file employees and have been relentlessly and continuously exposing and opposing grafts and corruptions committed by PhilPost personnel and officials.
They particularly cited Dela Cruz’s assumption as the first lady PMG on July last year while she has still two pending graft cases at the Sandiganbayan which are violations of anti-graft and corrupt practices acts and mining laws. Then, she has been barely eleven (11) months in office yet she has already terminated the services of almost three hundred (300) employees without valid reasons and without due process and she would soon eventually dismiss thousand others in the guise of “Rationalization Plan [(the RatPlan) or the Executive Order No. 366 which was issued by former President Gloria Macapagal – Arroyo]” The dismissed workers are four (4) years to twenty (20) years already in the service. This is aside from the fact that Dela Cruz also abolished hundred postal district manager (PDM) posts, again using the RatPlan as a justification.

Instead of providing permanent items or positions to casual employees who have been in the postal service for several years, Dela Cruz is abruptly terminating their services without legitimate grounds and without due process which she has eventually replaced with her own provincemates.

In the same letter-request for Senate probe, the unions’ leaders have also complained that Dela Cruz and her delegation have engaged in frequent visits nationwide, using the RatPlan which caused hemorrhage to the coffers of the Corporation worth millions of pesos aside from various travels in several countries in spite of her repeated pronouncements that PhilPost is in the brink of collapse. That repeated pronouncements that PhilPost is in the brink of collapse, is used by Dela Cruz to justify the sale of historic post office building in Liwasang Bonifacio, City of Manila to a foreign investor.

The unions’ leaders lament that Dela Cruz hired contractuals, consultants and coterminous employees, mostly from her home province of Bulacan whose salaries are ranging from twenty thousand pesos (P20,000.00) to seventy thousand pesos (P70,000.00). She increased her own monthly salary from one hundred twenty thousand pesos (P120,000.00) to one hundred fifty five thousand (P155,000.00) only recently but she made such increase retroactive on January 2012.

They reported to the Senate that Dela Cruz also increased the monthly salary of her three (3) Assistant Postmasters General from ninety thousand pesos (P90,000.00) to one hundred twenty five thousand pesos (P125,000.00) also recently but she also made the same increase effective as of January 2012 as she very recently jacked up as well the representation and travel allowance (RATA) of her regional (area) directors yet again, the increase has been made retroactive as of February 2012.

Worse, the salaries of the PMG and the APMGs have already increased twice, in year 1998 and this year 2012 and that the PMG herself has facilitated the increase of her own salary without first implementing the Salary Standardization Law III (SSL III) third and fourth tranches of the twelve thousand (12,000) rank-and-file employees all over the country and without prioritizing the payment of the long delayed legitimate benefits and claims of postal employees.

They stated in their letter that Dela Cruz deliberately conceals the thousand available and vacant items or positions at PhilPost listed in the Civil Service Commission (CSC) – issued Year 2012 Vacancies in the Government Owned and Controlled Corporation (GOCC).

It is also their observations that Dela Cruz remains deaf, blind and insensitive on their pleas and never lifted a finger to conduct appropriate probe on the various irregularities they reported to her such as the more than half a billion pesos anomalies in the PhilPost Provident Fund Office (PFO). She has not initiated any investigation on these irregularities and has kept the company of the “men and women” whom they reported to her as the “thieves and vultures – culprits” of these stealing and plunder at the PFO. Worse, one of the officials these group of leaders have pinpointed to be responsible on such irregularities, a certain APMG for Administration Mama S. Lalanto has remained in his post as such APMG, even after they have filed several cases against him and his fellow officials at the PFO.

Sadly, they lamented that Dela Cruz has not reprimanded Lalanto neither suspended him but instead, she promoted further Lalanto by appointing him as Officer-In-Charge (OIC) of the PhilPost Corporate Planning Service in addition to his being the APMG, the Chairman of the Change Management Team (the implementor/ executioner of the “Rationalization Plan”), the Chairman of the PhilPost Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) and so on and so forth.

They conveyed to the Senate that aside from Lalanto, the other respondents of the various cases they have filed at the Office of the Ombudsman regarding the PFO mess have included PFO administrator Evelyn Banares, the members of the Board of Trustees namely APMG for Finance Elizabeth C. Tungol, Postal Employees Union of the Philippines (PEUP) pres. Diosdado C. De Guzman and PEUP treasurer Merle B. Narvaez; PFO legal counsel Atty. Lee P. Viceral, director of PhilPost Legal Service; unknown or unfamiliar individuals identified as a certain Rosario L. De Ocampo and Edgardo G. Torres; PhilPost Internal Audit Service director Francis T. Cereno; former PFO Board chairman Ramon L. Gelvezon and former PhilPost Board chairman Alfredo G. Gabot who was then at the same time the chairman of the PFO Board; and former PMG Hector R.R. Villanueva who was the former chairman of PhilPost Board.

The unions’ leaders stated in their letter to the Senate that Dela Cruz also has not made any move to conduct probe on the multimillion pesos worth of unliquidated cash advances of officials of current and previous administrations.

These leaders are greatly amazed and puzzled why Dela Cruz has not taken any action on the botched five billion seven hundred million pesos (P5.7B) modernization project with Japanese contractor ROA Limited Japan. They informed the Senate that Dela Cruz has not initiated to push with the collection of performance bond amounting to three hundred million three hundred thousand (P300,300,000.00) from Mercantile Insurance Company. Such insurance proceeds of performance bond are callable on demand for failure of ROA to perform the terms and conditions of the contract.

This group of leaders have told the Senate that six hundred sixty four million pesos (P664,000,000.00) have remained unremitted as employer-employee premium and payment contributions to Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) despite of the fact that the Office of the President has given her such huge amount purposely to settle such obligations to GSIS.

The portions of the P664,000,000.00 which represent the employees’ premium and payment contributions had been automatically deducted from the monthly salaries of the employees but the said premium and payment contributions were not remitted by then PMG Villanueva to the GSIS which reasons that the Office of the President has given PMG Dela Cruz that money to settle said obligation to GSIS.

And they as well divulged that there are also multimillion pesos worth of unremitted employer-employee shares to Pag-IBIG Fund, Philippine Health Insurance Corporation and other various stakeholders of the Corporation.

They also revealed in the said letter the anomalous two million United States dollars (US$2,000,000.00) PhilPost-USA deal, the “unaccounted” half a billion pesos (P500,000,000.00) capital infusion to Postal Bank from Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) that was made before the 10 May 2010 national and local elections and the numerous “irregular” midnight contracts like the revival of collections from PhilPost employees of excessively usurious Air Materiel Wing Savings and Loan Association, Inc. (AMWSLAI), etc., all of which are irregularities at the state-courier which Dela Cruz has never bothered to investigate.

The Senate has also been informed that she did not complete the probe on the two (2) fire incidents that occurred at PhilPost which happened coincidentally when she had become the PMG and that millions of pesos were unnecessarily spent during the 10 November 2011 228th anniversary of the establishment of postal service in the country and almost a million of pesos was lavishly expended during her nth birthday celebration last February 24 where she fed the media that that event was an advance observance of the 26th EDSA People Power Revolution.

Paglicawan, Rama, Gomez and Barola informed the Senate that in that Dela Cruz’s birthday celebration, she made the PhilPost quadrangle as her virtual campaign headquarter and she literally “capitalized” on the memories and legacies of President Benigno S. Aquino III’s heroes/ martyrs-parents Benigno S. Aquino, Jr. and Corazon C. Aquino where and when, she gathered almost all of her political supporters and the twenty six (26) priests and five (5) bishops from dioceses and archdioceses of cities and municipalities of Bulacan province who concelebrated a Holy Mass during the said lavish occasion.

The Blue Ribbon Committee was also advised by the four union leaders that millions of pesos were again needlessly spent during the visit of Presidential sister, Maria Elena “Ballsy” Aquino-Cruz, on 10 April 2012 during the 20th corporate anniversary commemorating the creation of PhilPost as a corporation.

The reports of the unions’ leaders to the Senate also include the anomalous multimillion peso two-year contract without the benefit of public bidding with Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company (PLDT) of two hundred (200) unbranded computer units with two hundred (200) internet connection. They said that full advance payment has already been made by Dela Cruz to PLDT.

These leaders also narrated in their letter to the Senate the contract without the benefit again, of public bidding signed by Dela Cruz for and in behalf of the Corporation with Xitrix Computer Corporation of one hundred (100) units of unknown brand of computer sets and forty five (45) units of unbranded bar scanner worth millions of pesos.

The repeat order for contract without the necessary public bidding of supplies for the procurement of twenty five (25) units of unnamed computer set and eleven (11) units of unbranded barcode scanner of about half a million pesos has also been the content of the leaders’ report to the Senate.

Further, they revealed that another contract, was for the nth time signed again by Dela Cruz representing PhilPost, without public bidding with CIS Bayad Center, Inc. In said contract, post offices all over the country will serve as Bayad Center outlets.

The leaders also divulged the multimillion peso contract with a private tailoring shop from Bulacan province of thousand postal employees’ uniforms again without the benefit of public bidding.

The Senate was provided by the unions’ leaders with copies of various cases lodged before the Office of the Ombudsman and the voluminous documents – evidence to prove their allegations and revelations.

They further disclosed that upon her assumption to office and to date, she did not initiate any inventory of cases “very questionably” pending for several years at the PhilPost Inspection Service and the Legal Service which breeds corruptions at the sate-courier.

They have leaked to the Senate that Dela Cruz has not undertaken any investigation on the anomalous multimillion pesos motor vehicle insurance contracts uninterruptedly held for decades with Phoenix Insurance Corporation. They also confessed that she has not introduced any reform measures in the postage metered machines with millions of pesos worth of irregulairities neither she endeavored to conduct any probe on the printing/ production of postage stamps monopolized continuously for decades by Amstar Printing Corporation.

Alarmed with multimillion pesos worth of postage stamps that have already been reported long missing, the same group of leaders revealed to the Senate that Dela Cruz did not even undertake an honest-to-goodness inventory of these stamps disguised as being “safekept” at the vaults in the regional offices and at the central office.

The Upper Chamber of the House of Congress has also been updated that Dela Cruz did not initiate to investigate former PMG Hector R.R. Villanueva who was then a Member and then Chairman of the PhilPost Board of Directors without any valid appointment from the President of the Republic of the Philippines or from 04 June 2005 up to 19 September 2006 or for a total of one (1) year and more than three (3) months, Villanueva was committing a crime of ‘usurpation of authority,’ ‘illegally’ performing the official duties and responsibilities and also ‘unlawfully’ receiving salaries and various perks as such Member/ Chairman of the Board.

Worst, it can be recalled that it was Villanueva, then the incumbent Chairman of the PhilPost Board who ‘illegally signed on 01 September 2006 for and in behalf of the Corporation the contract of the now declared foiled P5.7 billion ROA modernization project when then PMG Dario C. Rama was only on his extended leave of absence.

These leaders also declared that Dela Cruz never bothered to review the decades long multimillion pesos worth of contract, again without the benefit of public bidding with Petron Corporation for the supply of petroleum, oil/ gasoline and spare parts of thousand vehicles of PhilPost all over the archipelago.

The group cried out that there are many officials of PhilPost who lack the credentials and the qualifications to become such officials of the Corporation yet it has been long tolerated by Dela Cruz. They chorused, “Dela Cruz, instead of directing an investigation as to the veracity of our report about the two (2) pending cases lodged before the Office of the Ombudsman against Assistant Postmaster General (APMG) Luis D. Carlos, and the lack of qualifications of the ‘man,’ Dela Cruz has given him vast powers, put more offices under his jurisdiction and further appointed him to various Committees.” Sadly, ity is on record that Carlos has only become an APMG simply because of his connections with the past administration and was appointed by the PhilPost Board of Driectors as such APMG “in principle, pending submission of appropriate clearances from the previous employer/s, the National Bureau of Investigation, the Office of the Opmbudsman and the Sandiganbayan,” yet Carlos has never submitted yet any clearance from the date he was employed at PhilPost since more than seven (7) years ago up to the present.
Worse, there are also several employees and officials of the state-courier who have submitted bogus school records and fake credentials who remain in office per imprimatur of Dela Cruz. One classic example is a certain Oscar V. Lazo, Jr. They recounted that “in spite of our letter dated 21 November 2011 complete with documents-evidence informing Dela Cruz of the full details of the misrepresentation and falsification of public records of Oscar V. Lazo, Jr., who had held three (3) conflicting positions, in concurrent capacity: erstwhile Assistant Postmaster for Human Resource Development and Training who was at the same time, the former Director of the PhilPost Inspection Service and likewise, the Director of Central Mail Exchange Center, PMG Dela Cruz has again for the nth time lifted no finger to act or confront the issues we have raised.”

They continued, “Dela Cruz has not even reacted on our report that Lazo has two (2) master’s degrees, with a professional career service eligibility and career executive service eligibility despite the fact that his school records show that he did not finish his college studies.”

The have told both Enrile and Guingona that Dela Cruz instead has given Lazo an enormous tasks and a much greater area of responsibility by appointing him as the Area Director (Regional Director) of the expanded NorthEast to the prejudice of more deserving and qualified regional directors, namely Tomas Bagay, Edward Rojas, Lilia Barcelon, Mario Lanuza, Guiambangan Asim and Amelia Cunanan who are all now in a “floating status.”

Their letter to the Senate also showed their discovery of several personnel whom Dela Cruz has hired and she has allowed them to receive salaries/ wages, allowances and other remunerations even without first completing or complying with the requirements of submitting the necessary Personal Data Sheet, Medical Clearance, Police Clearance, etc. Worse, they indicated that “without valid appointment from the CSC since their first day in office up to today, Dela Cruz has given permission to PhilPost Inspection Service (IS) director (retired police sergeant) Noel R. Acuna, IS department manager Gumersindo B. Umayam, Jr., Human Resource Management Department dir. Esther V. Cabigao, etc. to continuously receive their monthly salary with ACA/ Personal Economic Relief Allowance (PERA) per month; clothing allowance and their year 2011 bonus and cash gift and their monthly RATA as of their first day in office up to today and various other acts of omissions and commissions.”

Before submitting their reports to the Senate, Rama, Paglicawan, Gomez and Barola more than three (3) months ago had already requested Commission on Audit chairperson Maria Gracia M. Pulido Tan to conduct urgent forensic audit of the financial transactions, dealings and relative concerns of PhilPost under the administration of Dela Cruz and her predecessor/s but to no avail. COA has not acted on their request nor COA has accomplished any audit and worse, the four leaders are wondering why not a single reply to their reiteration letters was ever made by Pulido Tan in the same manner that the various cases lodged several months ago by Atty. Berteni C. Causing, president of ALAM and Paglicawan against Dela Cruz, her cohorts; Manuel V. Pangilinan and Pangilinan’s fellow officials at the PLDT and Bayad Center have remained unacted by Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales.

REFERENCE:

MANUEL G. RAMA TIRSO N. PAGLICAWAN, JR.
President, PhilPost Rank-and-File Employees Pres., PhilPost Workers Union [PWU]
Association, Inc. [PRAFEA] – Confederation of Pres., Alab ng Mamamahayag
Unity, Recognition and Advancement of [ALAM] PhilPost Chapter
Government Employees [COURAGE] 09083792849
mobile no. 09464319874

CESAR C. GOMEZ DANTE DEAN M. BAROLA
Secretary General, PRAFEA SecGen, PWU
09215532375 09212312025

SHERYL TAN
Office of Senator Teofisto Guingona III
Trunkline: 5526601 local 8563
Direct Lines: 9865774 and 9848940

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PHILPOST RANK-AND-FILE EMPLOYEES ASSOCIATION, INC. [PRAFEA] – CONFEDERATION FOR UNITY, RECOGNITION AND ADVANCEMENT OF GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES [COURAGE]

PHILPOST WORKERS UNION [PWU]

Philippine Postal Corporation
Post Office Building
Liwasang Bonifacio, City of Manila, Philippines

08 June 2012

HONORABLE JUAN PONCE ENRILE
Senate President
Senate of the Republic of the Philippines
Pasay City

HONORABLE TEOFISTO GUINGONA III
Chairman, Committee on Accountability of Public Officers and Investigations, Senate of the Republic of the Philippines

SUBJECT: Urgent request for Philippine Senate to conduct an immediate inquiry in aid of legislation to the several and repeated Anomalies, Crimes and Excesses [ACES] and human rights violations of incumbentPostmaster General (PMG) Maria Josefina “Josie” Mendoza Dela Cruz

Dear Senate President Enrile and Blue Ribbon Committee Chair Guingona:

Greetings!

Triggered by the initiative of Senator Edgardo J. Angara’s recent filing of a Senate resolution seeking to inquire into reports that there is an ongoing negotiation between the Philippine government and a Hongkong company to sell the historic Philippine Post Office building in Liwasang Bonifacio, City of Manila and convert it into a hotel, we are ardently and urgently requesting your Honors to please conduct an immediate Senate inquiry in aid of legislation to the several and repeated Anomalies, Crimes and Excesses [ACES] and human rights violations of incumbent Postmaster General (PMG) Maria Josefina “Josie” Mendoza Dela Cruz, the former governor of Bulacan who run but heavily lost during the 10 May 2010 elections!

We are respectfully asking the Honorable Senate President and the Chairman of the Blue Ribbon Committee to conduct thorough probe regarding these concerns and thereafter, your good selves will help us further file appropriate administrative and criminal charges against PMG Dela Cruz and her cohorts.

Please spare us of your precious time to study our grievance, and as you read these, kindly bear with us for we have enumerated hereunder the long list of ACES of Josie Dela Cruz which have placed us, thousand PhilPost employees in a seemingly never ending horrible and miserable situation:

(1) PMG Dela Cruz assumed the PMG post while she has two pending graft cases at the Sandiganbayan [violations of anti-graft and corrupt practices acts and mining laws];

(2) PMG Dela Cruz is barely eleven (11) months in office yet she has already terminated the services of almost three hundred (300) employees without due process and she would soon eventually dismiss thousand others in the guise of “Rationalization Plan [(the RatPlan) or the Executive Order No. 366 which was issued by former President Gloria Macapagal – Arroyo];”

(3) The dismissed workers are four (4) to twenty (20) years already in the service aside from the fact that PMG Dela Cruz also abolished hundred postal district manager (PDM) posts, again using the RatPlan as a justification.

Instead of providing permanent items or positions to casuals employees who have served PhilPost for many years, Dela Cruz is abruptly terminating their services without legitimate grounds to replace them with her own provincemates;

(4) PMG Dela Cruz and her delegation have engaged in frequent visits nationwide, using the RatPlan which caused hemorrhage to the coffers of the Corporation worth millions of pesos aside from several travels in various countries in spite of her repeated pronouncements that PhilPost is in the brink of collapse;

(5) That repeated pronouncements that PhilPost is in the brink of collapse, is used by PMG Dela Cruz to justify the sale of historic post office building in Liwasang Bonifacio to a foreign investor;

(6) PMG Dela Cruz hired contractuals, consultants and coterminous employees, mostly from her home province of Bulacan whose salaries are ranging from twenty thousand (P20,000.00) to seventy thousand pesos (P70,000.00).

Sadly, there are alarming reports reaching the undersigned Union leaders that mostly, those personnel hired by Dela Cruz who are assigned at the PhilPost Central Mail Exchange Center in Pasay City are “using” illegal substance and drugs, and therefore, there is urgent necessity to conduct as soon as possible random drug-testing to confirm these accounts and information;

(7) PMG Dela Cruz recently increased her own monthly salary from one hundred twenty thousand pesos (P120,000.00) to one hundred fifty five thousand (P155,000.00) retroactive on January 2012;

(8) PMG Dela Cruz also increased the monthly salary of her three (3) Assistant Postmasters General from ninety thousand pesos (P90,000.00) to one hundred twenty five thousand pesos (P125,000.00) effective January 2012;

(9) PMG Dela Cruz also very recently jacked up the representation and travel allowance (RATA) retroactive February 2012 of her regional (area) directors.

Worse, the salaries of the PMG and the APMG have already increased twice, in year 1998 and this year 2012 and that the PMG has facilitated the increase of her own salary without first implementing the Salary Standardization Law III (SSL III) third and fourth tranches of the twelve thousand (12,000) rank-and-file employees all over the country and without prioritizing the payment of the long delayed legitimate benefits and claims of postal employees;

(10) PMG Dela Cruz deliberately conceals the thousand available and vacant items or positions at PhilPost listed in the Civil Service Commission (CSC) – issued Year 2012 Vacancies in the Government Owned and Controlled Corporation (GOCC);

(11) PMG Dela Cruz remains deaf and blind and never lifted a finger to conduct appropriate probe on the various irregularities we reported to her such as:

(a) The more than half a billion pesos anomalies in our PhilPost Provident Fund Office (PFO). She has not initiated any investigation on these irregularities and has kept the company of the “men and women” we reported to her as the “thieves and vultures – culprits” of these stealing/ plunder. Worse, one of the officials we have pinpointed to be responsible on such irregularities, APMG for Administration Mama S. Lalanto has remained in his post as such APMG, even after we have filed several cases against him and his fellow officials at the PFO.

Sadly, Dela Cruz has not reprimanded him neither suspended him but instead, he promoted him further by appointing him as Officer-In-Charge (OIC) of the PhilPost Corporate Planning Service in addition to his being the APMG, the Chairman of the Change Management Team (the implementor/ executioner of the “Rationalization Plan”), the Chairman of the PhilPost Bids and Awards Committee (BAC), and so on and so forth.

Aside from Lalanto, the other respondents of the various cases we have filed at the Office of the Ombudsman in this PFO mess include EVELYN S. BANARES, ELIZABETH C. TUNGOL, DIOSDADO C. DE GUZMAN, MERLE B. NARVAEZ, ATTY. LEE P. VICERAL, ROSARIO L. DE OCAMPO, EDGARDO G. TORRES, FRANCIS T. CERENO, RAMON L. GELVEZON, ALFREDO G. GABOT and HECTOR R.R. VILLANUEVA.

The copy of the cases lodged before the Office of the Ombudsman pertaining to this instance is herewith attached;

(b) Multimillion pesos worth of unliquidated cash advances of officials of current and previous administrations;

(c) The botched five billion seven hundred million pesos (P5.7B) modernization project with Japanese contractor ROA Limited Japan. PMG Dela Cruz has not taken any initiative to push with the collection of performance bond amounting to three hundred million three hundred thousand (P300,300,000.00) from Mercantile Insurance Company.

Such insurance proceeds of performance bond are callable on demand for failure of ROA to perform the terms and conditions of the contract;

(d) The six hundred sixty four million pesos (P664,000,000.00) unremitted employer-employee premium and payment contributions to Government Service Insurance System (GSIS);

(e) The multimillion unremitted employer-employee shares to Pag-IBIG Fund, Philippine Health Insurance Corporation and other various stakeholders;

(f) The anomalous two million United States dollars ($2M) PhilPost-USA deal;

(g) The “unaccounted” half a billion pesos capital infusion to Postal Bank from Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) before the 10 May 2010 national and local elections;

(h) The numerous “irregular” midnight contracts like the revival of collections from PhilPost employees of excessively usurious Air Materiel Wing Savings and Loan Association, Inc. (AMWSLAI), etc;

(i) She did not complete the probe on the two (2) fire incidents that occurred at PhilPost;

(j) Millions of pesos were unnecessarily spent during the 10 November 2011 228th anniversary of the establishment of postal service in the country;

(k) Almost a million of pesos was lavishly expended during her nth birthday celebration last February 24 where she fed the media that that event was an advance observance of the 26th EDSA People Power Revolution.

In that celebration, she made the PhilPost quadrangle as her virtual campaign headquarter and she “capitalized” on the memories and legacies of heroes/ martyrs Benigno S. Aquino, Jr. and Corazon C. Aquino where and when, she gathered almost all of her political supporters and the twenty six (26) priests and five (5) bishops from dioceses and archdioceses of cities/ municipalities of Bulacan province who concelebrated a Holy Mass during the said occasion;

(l) Millions of pesos were again needlessly spent during the visit of Presidential sister, Maria Elena “Ballsy” Aquino-Cruz, on 10 April 2012 during the 20th corporate anniversary commemorating the creation of PhilPost as a corporation;

(m) The anomalous multimillion peso two-year contract without the benefit of public bidding with Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company (PLDT) of two hundred (200) unbranded computer units with two hundred (200) internet connection.

Full payment has already been made by PhilPost to PLDT;

(n) The contract without the benefit again, of public bidding with Xitrix Computer Corporation of one hundred (100) units of unknown brand of computer sets and forty five (45) units of unbranded bar scanner worth millions of pesos;

(o) The repeat order for contract of supplies for the procurement of twenty five (25) units of unnamed computer set and eleven (11) units of unbranded barcode scanner of about half a million pesos. Copy of case filed before the Office of the Ombudsman is hereto attached;

(p) The contract without public bidding of PhilPost with CIS Bayad Center, Inc. Copy of case filed before the Office of the Ombudsman is also hereto attached;

(q) The multimillion peso contract with a private tailoring shop from Bulacan province of thousand postal employees’ uniforms again without the benefit of public bidding. Copy of case filed before the Office of the Ombudsman is hereto attached;

(r) Upon her assumption to office and to date, she did not initiate any inventory of cases “very questionably” pending for several years at the PhilPost Inspection Service and the Legal Service;

(s) She has not undertaken any investigation on the anomalous motor vehicle insurance contracts uninterruptedly held for decades with Phoenix Insurance Corporation;

(t) She has not introduced any reform measures in the postage metered machines;

(u) She did not endeavor to conduct any probe on the printing/ production of postage stamps monopolized continuously for decades by Amstar Printing Corporation.

She did not even undertake honest-to-goodness inventory of millions of pesos worth of stamps allegedly being “safekept” at the vaults in the regional offices and at the central office yet these stamps have already been long “missing;”

(v) Dela Cruz did not initiate to investigate former PMG Hector R.R. Villanueva who was then a Member/ Chairman of the PhilPost Board of Directors without any valid appointment from the President of the Republic of the Philippines or from 04 June 2005 up to 19 September 2006 or for a total of one (1) year and more than three (3) months, Villanueva was “illegally” performing the official duties and responsibilities and also “unlawfully” receiving salaries and various perks as such Member/ Chairman of the Board ; and

(w) Dela Cruz never bothered to review the decades long contract, again without the benefit of public bidding with Petron Corporation for the supply of petroleum, oil/ gasoline and spare parts of thousand vehicles of PhilPost all over the archipelago;

(12) PMG Dela Cruz, instead of directing an investigation as to the veracity of our report about the two (2) pending cases lodged before the Office of the Ombudsman against Assistant Postmaster General (APMG) Luis D. Carlos, and the lack of qualifications of the ‘man,’ Dela Cruz has given him vast powers, put more offices under his jurisdiction and further appointed him to various Committees;

(13) In spite of our letter dated 21 November 2011 complete with documents-evidence informing Dela Cruz of the full details of the misrepresentation and falsification of public records of Oscar V. Lazo, Jr., who had held three (3) conflicting positions, in concurrent capacity: erstwhile Assistant Postmaster for Human Resource Development and Training who was at the same time, the former Director of the PhilPost Inspection Service and likewise, the Director of Central Mail Exchange Center, PMG Dela Cruz has again for the nth time lifted no finger to act or confront the issues we have raised.

Dela Cruz has not even reacted on our report that Lazo has two (2) master’s degrees, with a professional career service eligibility and career executive service eligibility in spite of the fact that his school records show that he did not finish his college studies.

PMG Dela Cruz instead has given Lazo an enormous tasks and a much greater area of responsibility by appointing him as the Area Director (Regional Director) of the expanded NorthEast to the prejudice of more deserving and qualified regional directors, namely Tomas Bagay, Edward Rojas, Lilia Barcelon, Mario Lanuza, Guiambangan Asim and Amelia Cunanan;

(14) There are several personnel whom PMG Dela Cruz has hired and she has allowed them to receive salaries/ wages, allowances and other remunerations even without first completing or complying with the requirements of submitting the necessary Personal Data Sheet, Medical Clearance, Police Clearance, etc. Worse, without valid appointment from the CSC since their first day in office up to today, Dela Cruz has allowed PhilPost Inspection Service (IS) director (retired police sergeant) Noel R. Acuna, IS department manager Gumersindo B. Umayam, Jr., Human Resource Management Department dir. Esther V. Cabigao, etc. to continuously receive their monthly salary with ACA/ Personal Economic Relief Allowance (PERA)per month; clothing allowance and their year 2011 bonus and cash gift and their monthly Representation and Travel Allowance (RATA) as of their first day in office up to today.

Thus, we are deeply and passionately praying you would appropriately act on this humble request for Senate to conduct the needed investigation!

As you are conducting the probe, we are wishing as well you would intently listen to our pleas, hear our voices and appeals and feel the agony and suffering of/ for our hapless and helpless fellow postal workers in the postal service (those who have already been unceremoniously terminated, the thousand others to be dismissed soon without valid grounds and the rank-and-file who are still in the service but are being constantly “harassed and threatened” by PMG Dela Cruz and her “partners.”

As ready reference, we have herewith chronologically attached documents – evidence and news clippings regarding these issues and concerns.

FOR TRUTH, JUSTICE, ACCOUNTABILITY, TRANSPARENCY AND GOOD GOVERNANCE TO ALSO TRIUMPH AND REIGN AT PHILPOST, HELP US KINDLY MR. SENATE PRESIDENT AND MR. BLUE RIBBON COMMITTEE CHAIR TO FURTHER UNEARTH THE ACES AND HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS OF PMG JOSIE DELA CRUZ!

Sincerely yours,

MANUEL G. RAMA TIRSO N. PAGLICAWAN, JR.
President, PhilPost Rank-and-File Employees Pres., PhilPost Workers Union [PWU]
Association, Inc. [PRAFEA] – Confederation of Pres., Alab ng Mamamahayag
Unity, Recognition and Advancement of [ALAM] PhilPost Chapter
Government Employees [COURAGE] 09083792849
mobile no. 09464319874

CESAR C. GOMEZ DANTE DEAN M. BAROLA
Secretary General, PRAFEA SecGen, PWU
09215532375 09212312025