Iloilo City Post Office Launches Special Lane for Pregnant Women, Persons with Disabilities and The Elderly

In pursuit of its commitment to promote a gender fair society, Iloilo City Post Office has opened a special lane for pregnant women, persons with disabilities, and the elderly, on July 24, 2009. A teller has been designated to attend to ALL the postal needs of these clients with special needs.

Other capital post offices in Region 6, notably, Bacolod City Post Office in Negros Occidental, Roxas City Post Office in Capiz, Kalibo Post Office in Aklan, and San Jose Post Office in Antique are also set to open a special lane for pregnant women, persons with disabilities and the elderly very soon.

PHILPOST 6 KEY OFFICIALS TAKE A JOURNEY TOWARDS A GENDER FAIR SOCIETY

GAD Training With A Healthy Twist
Philpost 6 Division Directors, Postal District Managers and other key officials attended a two-day training on Gender Sensitivity on July 22-23, 2009 at Villa Sagrado, Iloilo City, in line with Philpost’s continuous advocacy on Gender and Development (GAD). The training was conducted by Ms. Rose Tubal, Chief, Employees Welfare Division and DOTC-Gender and Development (GAD) accredited trainer, Ms. Emily Baylon, also of the Employees Welfare Division and herself a DOTC-GAD accredited trainer, and Ms. Venus Frias, Training Officer of Postal Region 7.

The participants were made to take a journey towards a gender fair society, a journey which proved to be both fun and enlightening. Indeed, for many of the participants, it was an eye-opener to the role of women in the home, in the workplace, and in the community.

Some had the wrong notion that the seminar was designed to establish the supremacy of one sex over the other, or as a form of women empowerment. Actually, the seminar only aimed to emphasize the fact that each individual is part and parcel of a bigger picture. Each individual, man or woman, young or old, rich or poor, deserves a place in the universe, and each individual has the power to touch lives and to make a difference.

Interestingly, this particular GAD Training program had a healthy twist to it, with Ma’am Rose Tubal interjecting wellness tips much to the delight of the participants.

The two-day seminar ended with a poignant ceremony with candles and long-stemmed red roses, and with each participant’s statement of commitment to continue on with the journey towards a gender fair society.

Two Gentlemen of the PPC-Board in Region 6

Two gentlemen of the PPC Board, Director Alfredo G. Gabot and Director Edgardo V. Espinosa, and their staff paid PPC-Region 6 a visit on March 11, 2009 basically to see how things are in the Region.

Well, they weren’t disappointed for sure. Despite the many challenges, the economic crisis among them, the gentlemen are pleased to see for themselves that PPC-6 is actually doing fairly well under the supervision of RD Lilia O. Barcelon. Amidst the shortage in manpower and the fact that a lot of the Region’s officials are holding positions in acting capacity, PPC-6 is able to reduce the impact of the crisis and to cope with the day to day challenges.

The visit gave the Directors a chance to meet the staff and employees of the PPC-6 to inform them of some updates. In particular, Dir. Gabot, being also the Administrator of the Provident Fund Office, said that PFO will begin accepting new members this month. Even casual employees can be qualified to apply for membership with PFO. Accordingly, the Office is also working some things out to provide more benefits to its members.

The visit also gave PPC-6 employees the opportunity to air their concerns to the two members of the Board of Directors who promised to take the matters up in their forthcoming Board Meeting.

The group took time to go to several post offices in the beautiful island of Guimaras as well as some post offices in the City of Iloilo. The following day, March 12, 2009, they went to the district of Negros Occidental to attend the blessing of Brgy. 20 Post Office, the construction of which was sponsored by the City Government of Bacolod City thru the efforts of its dynamic Mayor, Hon. Evelio “Bing” R. Leonardia.

Brgy. 20 Post Office Now @ The Bacolod City Government Compound

The City Government of Bacolod City, through the efforts of its Mayor, Hon. Evelio “Bing” R. Leonardia, sponsored the construction of the Brgy. 20 Post Office at the City Government Office Compound, giving Brgy. 20 Post Office a new and beautiful home. The Brgy. 20 Post Office has been housed at the Brgy. Hall of Brgy. 20 for 5 years.

Last Thursday, March 12, 2009, the newly constructed Post Office was blessed and inaugurated, and in attendance were no less than Dir. Alfredo G. Gabot and Dir. Edgardo V. Espinosa, two gentlemen of the PPC Board, PPC-6 RD Lilia O. Barcelon, Bacolod City Administrator Dr. Rogelio G. Balo representing Mayor Leonardia, the Brgy. Captain of Brgy. 20 Carlo Remo G. Barredo, and some key officials and employees of PPC-6.

In the short program that followed the blessing, Dir. Gabot thanked Mayor Leonardia for the strong support to the Philippine Postal Corporation, and talked about the importance of the Postal Service amidst the many breakthroughs in technology.

Talking in behalf of Mayor Leonardia, Dr. Balo said that, indeed, the City Government recognizes the necessity of the Postal Service, and that it is, in fact, willing to construct more post offices in other parts of Bacolod City.

In return, the Philippine Postal Corporation commits to do its best to cater to the postal needs of the residents of Brgy. 20.

Looking Back ... Moving On

Looking Back … Moving On

Philpost 6 conducted a Strategic Planning Workshop and Assessment on February 19-20, 2009 at the City Corporate Inn, Iloilo City, to look back to the year that was and come out with plans and programs for the year 2009.

Looking Back
Looking back to the year 2008, Philpost 6, under the resourceful attitude and guidance of the region’s brightest minds and the strong leadership of Regional Director Lilia O. Barcelon, introduced and implemented several schemes to improve its dispatch capability (all classes of mails are dispatched within one day), hasten the processing and delivery of mails, increase its delivery efficiency, become more visible to the public and gain more customers in the process. 98% of the almost 11 million mails received by Philpost 6 were successfully delivered, while the remaining 2% were Returned To Sender (RTS).

One other thing Philpost 6 is proud to have accomplished in 2008 is the immediate delivery of all express mails, both international and express mails, in Iloilo City. All express mails received by the Office before 9:00 in the morning are delivered within that same day, while those received by the Office after 9:00 in the morning are delivered within 24 hours. This scheme will also be implemented in the other district offices soon.

Oh, Frank!
Looking back to 2008 will always bring memories of Frank, the typhoon that not only crippled the mail operations for a time but also left many postal employees homeless. Indeed, the wrath of Frank has made such a big impact, yet the faith of the people never wavered. Through the representation made by RD Barcelon, there was an outpouring of support, both financial and otherwise, from the Central Office, particularly from the Postmaster General himself, Hector RR Villanueva, the different Regional Offices and Sections, and private groups and individuals, and all these helped to immediately restore the postal operations.


Moving On
Philpost 6 knows that challenges are part and parcel of life ..of operating a business. Year in and year out, Philpost 6 has regarded these challenges not as an ordeal but rather as avenues for growth and stimuli for fresh ideas.

Yes, technological advancements which offer more convenient ways of communication, the global economic crisis, and a depleted work force, will remain to be a big challenge for Philpost this year, but Philpost hopes to use all these to its advantage by embarking on more intensive campaigns and investing in computers and programs to effectively meet the demands of time and technology.

The Singing Gram: A Special Valentine Project of Philpost 6

Letter Carriers of Iloilo City Post Office delivered not just cakes and pastries and Valentine cards but timeless love songs --- much to the delight of the recipients of the Singing Gram.

Ten postal patrons engaged the services of Koro Kartero to sing a couple of love songs to their loved ones on February 13, 2008, the day before Valentine’s Day. A rush of emotions ensued and reactions though varied were overwhelming and inspiring, to say the least. Some cried tears of joys, others beamed with happiness, the rest were simply touched in one way or the other.

The Singing Gram Project is not exclusive during the Valentine season only. Any time you may wish to make someone feel special with a song, just call our Marketing Office at 033-335-119 or 033-509-8360 and look for Tess Planco, Marketing Specialist and Coordinator of Koro Kartero.

VISMIN RDs and ODs Meet in Region 6

Philpost Regional Directors and Operations Directors coming from the Visayas and Mindanao areas gathered in Region 6 on February 4-6 to talk about their accomplishments for 2008, and their plans and programs for the year 2009.

The Postmaster General Hector RR Villanueva, the APMG for Operations Mama S. Lalanto, Al Haj, APMG for Finance Elizabeth C. Tungol, and OIC-OAPMG for Human Resource Oscar V. Lazo, were all there to listen to the concerns of each Regional Office and immediately respond to the inquiries.

The RD to RD Conference served as a good ground for the Regional Directors to share ideas with one another and explore more ways of coping with the demands and challenges of time and technology.

The participants thoroughly enjoyed not just each other’s company, but the food and the hospitality that the Ilonggos are so well known for. There were singing, dancing, and a lot of merriment on the eve of February 5. The following day, February 6, the participants went around the city, visited some old churches, and got a taste of the famous La Paz Batchoy.

The Office of the APMG for Operations spearheaded the VISMIN RD-RD Conference.