Philpost to have first female postmaster general

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine Postal Corp. (Philpost) will have its first lady postmaster general (PMG) in the person of former Bulacan Gov. Josefina de la Cruz, who is set to assume post on Monday.

Assistant Postmaster General for Administration (APMG) Luis Carlos yesterday said De la Cruz will replace officer-in-charge PMG Antonio de Guzman, who also held the position as Philpost assistant postmaster general for operations.

Sources said that attorney De Guzman, who served as officer-in-charge PMG for only eight months, has been contemplating on resigning. But there had been rumors in the last two months that he would be replaced.

While his term was brief, Carlos credited De Guzman for starting the corporation’s “turnaround” in terms of improving the revenue collection of Philpost. 

“He is already more than 60 years old so I think he is already qualified to retire. He rose from the ranks and served Philpost for 44 years,” he said.

De la Cruz reportedly visited De Guzman in his office last Thursday and met with some of the officials.

Philpost is an agency under the Office of the President. De la Cruz is a member of the Liberal Party (LP), of which President Aquino is the party chairman. She ran but lost for the position of governor of Bulacan in the last 2010 national elections.

“We won’t have problems with the new PMG. Wherever she goes, she builds teams. She is a team player. She is also a multi-tasker,” Carlos said.

He also expressed hope that De la Cruz would bring “integrity, vision and connection” in running the Philpost.

“I think one of the biggest challenges that she would face is the challenge brought about by technology.

“With more Filipinos turning to the computer, Internet, cellular phone text messaging and other forms of technology, the Philpost has been experiencing difficulty in reaching its revenue targets.

“Technology took away the revenue,” he said.

De la Cruz graduated with a degree in Management Engineering (cum laude) in 1980 and Psychology (magna cum laude) in 1981 at the Ateneo de Manila University.

She has been involved in local government for 21 years. She started her political career as councilor of Bocaue, Bulacan and rose up to become the first lady governor in 1998 before being re-elected in 2000.