PhilPost starts probe into missing valuables from Australia

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine Postal Corporation (PhilPost) on Friday said it has started an investigation into the loss of several valuables, including a digital camera, shipped by an Australia-based Filipino to his family in the Philippines last June. PhilPost officials were prompted to conduct the probe after Edsel Pono, a computer solutions specialist in Australia, wrote to the Central Visayas Regional Post Office, to complain that the package he sent to Moalboal in Cebu was tampered and its contents stolen. Clifford Dasig, head of the Inspection Service at PhilPost, told GMANews.TV that the investigation could result in the possible granting of indemnity to Pono or compensation for the lost items. Pono's parcel, which was meant as a birthday surprise for his daughter, contained a digital camera – complete with a memory card, a memory stick, and a number of compact discs – and a set of photographs. The box arrived at the PhilPost branch in Mandaue on June 23, and was later dropped at Pono’s residence in Moalboal two days later. Pono’s family, however, was surprised to find that the clear adhesive on the box had been slashed and the brown envelope containing the valuable items was gone. All that was left in the box, which weighed almost 700 grams before it was shipped, were the photographs. “I am greatly disappointed and very disgusted of the incident. This ‘crime’ creates emotional strain to my daughter… She was crying for almost a day," the 28-year-old father wrote in his letter to the PhilPost. Parcel probe Robert Mondonedo, director of the PhilPost regional office in the Central Visayas, ordered the district manager in Moalboal to investigate and come up with a recommendation on the incident by next week. Dasig, however, said PhilPost cannot pay Pono the full amount of the missing items even if pilferage would be proven. He said PhilPost will abide by the standards set by the Universal Postal Union (UPU), an international governing body of postal services, of which PhilPost is a member. Under UPU conventions, addressees are entitled to a maximum of 30 Special Drawing Rights (SDR) or about P2,500 under current exchange rates if an item sent through a letter was proven to have been damaged or have gone missing due to negligence on the part of the PhilPost. As for damaged or stolen items sent through a parcel, the sender could get as much as 130 SDR or a little more than P10,000, said Lucille Camid of the PhilPost’s International Affairs Department. “We need to establish that the item is indemnifiable. We need to know who is at fault. Was the sender contributory to the damage or loss of item," Camid said. If there was negligence on the part of the sender, he or she would not be able to avail indemnity privileges, she added. Negligence means improper packaging of the items or misdeclaring a parcel’s contents, Camid said. Camid said 90 percent of all the complainants who were found eligible for indemnity in 2007 were already paid. She, however, said the PhilPost would not be able to pay for the extra amount in excess of the SDR. Pono's digital camera alone could cost about P12,000, way above the P10,000 SDR. “Hindi namin kayang sagutin ang mga nawawala at hindi namin kayang utusan ang mga employees namin na isauli ang nawawala (We cannot pay for the lost item and we cannot order an employee to return the item)," Dasig said. He said the PhilPost is only after catching erring employees and meting sanctions, including dismissal from service. “Kapag kami nakahuli, sa issue lang ng pagbubukas ang ipo-prosecute namin pero di na namin sakop na palitan iyong nawala (If we catch someone, we will only push for his prosecution, but we cannot replace the missing item)," Dasig said. He urged victims of pilferage to file criminal and administrative complaints against erring PhilPost employees. If the court rules in favor of the victims, they stand a chance of being paid damages apart from the indemnity. Camid, meanwhile, reminded the public to take an insurance for items they would send by mail. Old reputation Postmaster General Hector Villanueva said he has already ordered a serious crackdown on mail thieves to earn back the confidence of customers. He added that the recent cases of pilferage by “undeserving employees" are isolated. “We are trying to restore the old reputation of the post office – one of honesty, prompt service, and smiling postmen. That’s our mission," Villanueva said. In early July, police arrested two PhilPost employees in Manila who were caught trying to open envelopes and taking out currencies inserted in the letters. The postmen, who left Manila on board a delivery van, stopped along a highway in Pangasinan to open the letters when police saw them. Authorities filed charges of qualified theft and "opening of closed documents" against the postmen who were identified as John Castillo and Paquito Manlangit. The PhilPost suspended the two for three months. Separate charges for violation of the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002 will also be lodged against Castillo and Manlangit after police recovered methamphetamine hydrochloride (shabu) from them. Dasig called on the public to cooperate and to avoid inserting money in letters or packages, an act strictly prohibited by the PhilPost. - GMANews.TV