Angeles postmaster, 2 postmen relieved over mail pilferage

ANGELES CITY — Three heads rolled at the postal office in this city’s business district — the postmaster himself and two postmen — following an exposé on mail pilferage that was caught on videotape.

Postmaster-General Nicasio Rodriguez has also sent a six-man team to audit the Balibago office here of the Philippine Postal Corp. (PPC).

This, following a National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) report that pilferages and other irregularities have been going on at the postal office which serves the city’s commercial and entertainment district.

Arnel Avenir, chief of the PPC’s main office in Barangay San Nicolas, said Balibago postmaster Ma. Isabel Pangilinan and postal employees Danilo Salunga and Mario Mercado were relieved from their posts and reassigned without functions to the PPC’s regional office pending the results of an investigation.

The two postmen were caught on videotape allegedly pilfering mail they were supposed to deliver sometime in the first week of March. A co-worker, Rey Kabigting, videotaped them and provided the NBI a copy of the tape.

The NBI, in its report, said pilfering of cash, checks and even jewelry from mail, mostly from abroad, has been going on since 1987, and that some of the pilfered letters were either flushed into the toilet or dumped in a hole at the back of the Balibago post office.

Apart from the videotape, Kabigting also took photographs showing postmen pilfering mail inside their offices, usually before 8 a.m.

But Efren Garcia, Balibago postmaster from 1987 to 1994, denied allegations of mail pilferage during his term.

"Our office is the last destination of the mail before delivery to recipients, and if there was any anomaly, it might have been committed before (the mail reached) our office," he said.

Pangilinan assumed as Balibago postmaster only in April last year. The NBI report alleged that she had "tolerated" the irregularities in her office.

The NBI said the videotape showed postmen "massaging" the mail between their fingers to determine whether they contained cash, check or other items. The mail is then opened on its side with the use of a ballpen and is later sealed with paste after being pilfered.

Kabigting went on leave last week, claiming that he was harassed after making his exposé.

Avenir, however, said Kabigting’s transfer to his office was blocked by PPC regional director Armando Sereno pending the results of the audit on the Balibago office.

Avenir said his office supervises the postal offices in Angeles, Porac, Mabalacat and Magalang.

The city’s main postal office alone has 22 mail carriers who receive a monthly gross pay of P9,000 each.