With the fast advancement in digital technology, is the Philippine Postal Corporation (PHLPost) still relevant?
Retired justice Stephen Cruz, the newly-installed PHLPost, thinks so as he vowed to embark on aggressive reform programs that would make the Manila Central Post Office relevant again.
President Marcos appointed Cruz to replace Mike Planas who served the agency in just three months.
In a statement, Cruz said one of his priority programs is to restore and rehabilitate the burnt historic Manila Central Post Office under the rehabilitation program of the Department of Tourism.
Part of the rehabilitation, he said, is the establishment of a Postal Museum, and allied works related to the promenade and development of tourism.
“Efforts will also be exerted for the return and digitalization of the postal bank, which was earlier transferred by the previous administration to Landbank.
Cruz also vowed to lobby for the immediate return of the Postal ID as a functional card due to the insistent demand and clamor of thousands of Filipinos here and abroad who wish to acquire and renew their Postal Identity Card (Postal ID).
PHLPost mandate, according to its website, is "to plan, develop, promote and operate a nationwide postal system with a network that extends or make available, at least ordinary mail service, to any settlement in the country."
On the other hand, its mission is to provide "efficient, competitive and on-time delivery of communications, goods and merchandise, and payment services in any Filipino community."
Cruz took his oath of office before Executive Secretary Luxas Bersamin.
He is a graduate of the Ateneo Law School Class of 1976.
He joined former President Ferdinand Marcos Sr. office as a legal officer in 1977, the year he passed the bar. In 1980, he worked as Senior Associate Attorney at Nazareno Law Office.
He served as Presiding Judge of the Lucena RTC Branch 60 for six years from 2000-2006, before being appointed to the Court of Appeals-Manila in 2006 until 2020.
Cruz teaches at the University of the East College of Law, Enverga University College of Law, and San Carlos University in Cebu. He also taught at the Philippine Christian University College of Law.