Only eight months since she assumed office, the country’s first female postmaster general has come under fire from disappointed employees who want her out.
Around 100 Philippine Postal Corp. workers on Thursday called for the resignation of Josefina de la Cruz as they staged a rally in front of the Manila PhilPost Office at Liwasang Bonifacio during their lunch break.
After a Mass celebrated by Fr. Robert Reyes, officers of the PhilPost Workers Union (PWU) and the PhilPost Rank and File Employees Association (Prafea), who were dressed in black shirts, launched the “Resign Movement.”
The postal workers’ main complaint was the widespread layoffs which, according to them, were implemented by De la Cruz without the affected employees being given due process, Prafea president Manuel Rama said.
PWU president Tirso Paglicawan added that since July, around 250 workers, mostly casuals, have been dismissed. He said that they had received information that the number would balloon to around 1,000 by the end of the month.
“They cite cost cutting and ‘rationalization’ under Executive Order 366 as their reason but De la Cruz has increased her own salary [of P120,000] by P35,000. She has also appointed 55 new staffers with salary grades [ranging] from P20,000 to P70,000,” he said.
Reached for comment, the PhilPost administration said in a statement that De la Cruz’s “effective management measures,” which include the rationalization plan, resulted in a P120 million profit for the agency last year, “a significant earning which [has] never been experienced by the corporation in the past years.”
It added that it was interpreting the Mass and protest as “an encouragement to the PhilPost community, that we are not alone in our desire to transform the company into a more competitive and active participant in nation-building, and making sure that we are properly guided by the very values that promote transparency, good governance and a culture of excellence amongst the PhilPost workforce.”