Technology, seen as post office foe, helps instead

DAGUPAN CITY — Postmen have been delivering more parcels than letters, and have been shipping out commodities bought online.

“Technology has taken away a lot [of the letters],” said Luis Carlos, assistant postmaster general.

“A postman usually delivered 300 to 350 mails a day 15 years ago. But now, with the advent of technology, handwritten letters are almost gone,” said Carlos, who was here to launch the commemorative stamp for the Pangasinan capitol centennial.

Parcels facilitated by e-commerce or online purchases from abroad now characterize the bulk of deliveries from the Philippine Postal Corp. (PHLPost), with the volume of letters going down every year, Carlos said. He did not say how many parcels are shipped through the post offices.

Local products

Local products, especially from small towns, are also being shipped to different parts of the country using the post offices. These parcels usually contain nonperishable food, handicrafts and other merchandise.

Unlike private courier services, PHLPost delivers letters and parcels even to the remotest part of the country, Carlos said, adding that it was “almost an obligation.”

“We have to change the way the post offices are being run in this country because in other countries, they have already changed,” he said.

Compared to other countries, local post offices do not have enough money to invest in technology, and unlike other government agencies, PHLPost does not get subsidies from the national government, he said.

But with cheaper computers and internet connectivity, PHLPost has improved its services, Carlos said.

PHLPost has not given up on letters and has vigorously campaigned for the use of stamps though an annual letterwriting contest in various schools, he said.