As she effectively transformed the Philippine Postal Corp.’s (PHLPost) into a revenue-generating government-owned agency, its first female postmaster general (PMG) and chief executive officer Ma. Josefina Dela Cruz credits her successful three-term leadership as governor of Bulacan in seeing her through.

It was during this time that she developed her skills in leadership and steeled her determination in facing challenges in public service and economics–the very abilities, which allowed her to steer PHLPost into a brand new direction today.

“There were many challenges at PHLPost when I joined the organization but none that we could not overcome,” said Dela Cruz in a one-on-one with The Manila Times for its weekly CEO Corner.

Her vast experience in public service began at an early age of 21, when she was elected as the youngest councilor of Bocaue in Bulacan, thereafter working her way up elective posts until she became the governor of the province.

Armed with an impressive educational background—graduating Cum Laude in the 1980s from two consecutive degrees, namely Management Engineering and Psychology, at the Ateneo de Manila University—Dela Cruz was considered a valuable asset in her province.

Just the same, much was expected from the achiever when she was appointed to lead the new PHLPost, and she did not disappoint. Her program, “Re-engineering PHLPost,” won the People Management category of the World Mail Awards 2014 in Berlin, Germany on June 18—an achievement she humbly attributes to the employees of PHLPost.

“We owe the all the triumphs and success of the corporation receives to every employee, especially the letter carriers. This only attests that we are heading on the right path. With this award especially we can only go forward and continue to be of service to our fellow Filipinos,” Dela Cruz said.

The World Mail Awards 2014 is the most prestigious award ceremony in the postal sector recognizing excellence and innovation as conducted by Triangle Management Services Limited.

New PHLPost

Celebrating National Stamp Collecting Month this November, PHLPost now has an established structure with better facilities and a modern fleet of delivery vehicles. Its services are no longer defined by stamps, snail mail, and paper-based money order as the agency is now scaling up to express, logistics, electronic remittance, and cross-border e-commerce.

Moreover, Dela Cruz is proud of the financial turnaround of PHLPost, having been able to remit dividends to the National Government for the first time. PHLPost earned P110 million in the first seven months of operation under the leadership of Dela Cruz who took office in July 2011.

Dela Cruz recalled, “When I came here, PHLPost had only P5 million in its coffers. That was not even enough for the one month salaries of 11,000 employees. Worse, it had P266 million loses accumulated in the past years.”

Admittedly, Dela Cruz found the situation difficult, but after her factual assessment of the organization’s situation, she determinedly gathered available resources and manpower to improve PHLPost’s operations.

Among her early triumphs was to convince Department of Justice Secretary Leila De Lima to avail of their postal services for 2012 worth P5.6 million. Dela Cruz also persuaded other private companies to sign on for PHLPost’s courier services among them BDO and PLDT, and Philhealth and SSS.

“We are no longer limited to being a stamp company. We are now also a logistics company that can deliver cash and parcels door to door,” she said.

Dela Cruz was also able to implement new systems that resulted to favorable changes that continue to take place at PHLPost.

“If there’s one legacy I want to leave in this organization, it would be how I was able to uplift the situation of its employees who are now enjoying the fruits of those innovations,” she related.

These innovations comprise of the following:

Rationalization plan. After her strategic review of the company, 3,301 employees who volunteered to retire reduced PHLPost’s manpower, enabled the organization to prioritize its corporate budget.

“From 11,000 employees around the country, we were reduced to about 9,000,” Dela Cruz said. The savings resulting from the rationalization planenabled the Post to offer better compensation packages for employees, who previously received one of the lowest salaries in the industry. PHLPost salaries increased from 13 percent to 30 percent.”

Employee empowerment. Today PHLPost provides employees a world of opportunities, including participating in local and international trainings and conferences.

Employees are also encouraged to pursue higher degree of education or specialized courses through an Educational Assistance Program. With these, they are afforded chances to rediscover their sense of mission by conducting team-building activities, workshops and various wellness activities.

Performance management system. Employees’ performances are now planned, monitored, evaluated, and rewarded. With the Strategic Performance Management System (SPMS), corporate targets are translated to individual targets, providing every unit and employee a clear direction of what needs to be accomplish.

Open communication. Various means of communication between the management and employees are now in place. Dela Cruz takes time to travel all over the Philippines to carry out face-to-face interaction with postmasters and letter carriers so that corporate thrusts are communicated clearly and employees’ sentiments are addressed properly.

There are also corporate performance assessment and action planning every quarter, gathering of birthday celebrants every month, corporate publications every month, the PHLPost Text Alert, and use of other social media.

Better facilities and modern equipment. Dela Cruz also prioritized addressing the problem of fully depreciated vehicles, outdated machines and equipment, and manual processes over since July 2011.

With the three-year Refleeting Program, postal employees now drive new and rebranded vehicles in the transport of mails, with targets to add on 483 more vehicles by 2017.

Information technology. From traditional snail mails, PHLPost has taken a big leap to networked digital postage meter machines with initial implementation involving about 222 machines. The computerization of business processes is also ongoing.

An in-house IT department is busy developing various systems like the Financial Management Information System, Funds Management System, Personnel Management Information System, and of course the Pinoy e-mail (e-commerce platform).

Moreover, PHLPost has used IT to introduce stamps to the Filipinos in a new dimension through its “Selfie” Booth producing personalized stamps.

Added services. Besides mail delivery, PHLPost has transitioned to express delivery and moving bulk shipments like election paraphernalia and relief goods through its logistic services. Paper-based money order also no longer defines PHLPost payment services as it has migrated to electronic money transfer, bills payment, collections and payout services.

Partnerships

In collaboration with the Department of Social Welfare and Development and Land Bank of the Philippines, PHLPost was able to implement payout for the poorest families under the Conditional Cash Transfer Program, even to the remotest areas in the Philippines.

It also partnered with the Department of Health in delivering medicines to the rural health units, as well as with the Commission on Election in the delivery of election paraphernalia.

The Philippines’ Outsourced Collection Industry also became an ally for PHLPost in providing bills payment and collection services. In 2012, it sealed an alliance with DHL for international express delivery services for destinations not serviceable by its in-house express mail service.

With all her achievements as postmaster, Dela Cruz said still has a greater vision for the corporation if she is given the chance to prove its worth to the public.

“I know my purpose here,” she added.

Asked whether she thinks about going back to politics, she smiled and admitted, “To be honest, I am now happy with what I am doing here. I am very grateful to those employees who fully cooperate with me to bring back to life this very office they have been serving for many years.”

Source: Manila Times

Re-launching one of its most iconic products, the Philippine Postal Corporation (PHLPost) unveiled yesterday an upgraded version of the postal ID card—a primary form of identification used by as many as four million Filipinos.

A new wallet-sized PVC plastic card infused with layers of digital security is set to replace the traditional postal ID assembled from cardboard paper and plastic lamination

The postal ID remains a popular government-issued ID. It can be obtained by almost anyone who needs a valid proof of identity and address. ID owners are not required to have a particular skill, qualification or employment, unlike the hurdles for getting driver’s licenses, PRC licenses to practice a profession, SSS or GSIS cards.

According to Postmaster General Josefina de la Cruz, the lack of a valid ID remains a problem especially among the out of work, the informal sector, full-time homemakers, youths and minors. “Many ordinary Filipinos still don’t have a credible form of identity to show in banks or hospitals or boats—therefore giving them a harder time to get transactions done,” she said.

“The postal ID has a track record of giving disenfranchised citizens better access to public services and opportunities,” De La Cruz remarked. “As the card for everyone, the postal ID helps make our society more socially inclusive.”

Even among the employed, it makes sense to own a postal ID, she added. “We are all required to present more than one valid ID for important transactions—when we open a bank account, encash a check, buy property or apply for a passport.”

De la Cruz said the new postal ID will undeniably be more durable and presentable. In addition, she said the security measures—from one-of-a-kind fingerprint patterns to a quick response (QR) code and magnetic stripe—will improve card integrity and discourage counterfeiting. There has been a growing perception that it is easy to duplicate or fake the postal ID, leading to some entities no longer honoring or recognizing it.

PHLPost will pilot the issuance of new postal IDs starting mid-November this year in selected post offices. The new IDs will become accessible nationwide by early-2015. The upgrade is also in line with a directive to unify all ID systems of government-owned and controlled corporations under the biometric technology standard.

Although a final price was not yet announced for the new postal ID, Postmaster General De La Cruz assured the public that there would be no significant price increase despite the many ID improvements being introduced. The current postal ID costs P400 when obtained from the Manila Central Post Office in Liwasang Bonifacio. The price has been known to go higher outside Metro Manila, but among the changes PHLPost will institute are setting one uniform ID price and one ID quality anywhere in the country.

De la Cruz explained that the new ID is a flexible “smart card” capable of conducting secure and convenient transactions. PHLPost, she said, is preparing the ID for the functionalities of an ATM, a debit card for cashless postal money transfers and remittance, as well as loyalty rewards. She said the new ID would also ride the boom in Internet-based businesses through e-commerce and online banking capabilities.

“We are not just after the revenues. PHLPost also earns from the current postal ID. But we are moving forward with a new and improved ID,” De la Cruz asserted, “because our board wants to better serve the public.”

The new postal IDs will be produced through an existing joint venture of PHLPost and Filipino IT company Filmetrics Corporation. The same joint venture currently customizes biometric identification and registration systems for the Philippines’ largest social insurance fund, the Social Security System.

Source: PHLPost modernizes the Postal ID

June 20, 2014
From the Philippine Postal Corporation

The Philippine Postal Corporation (PHLPost) is standing tall with the other postal industry winners from around the globe as it clinches the most coveted award in the People Management category from the World Mail Awards 2014 in Berlin, Germany, on June 18.

After a touching presentation by PHLPost Postmaster General Josie dela Cruz focusing on its entry “Re-engineering PHLPost”, the corporation was declared the winner besting two programs from Belgium Post.

PMG Dela Cruz spoke about PHLPost’s journey from the challenges it faced through the years to the various innovations injected to the corporation to make it a relevant postal service provider.

“Today, we can say that we were right in taking the path of re-engineering. That we are victorious against a situation where others thought to be improbable to reverse. We are now starting to reap the fruits of our labor,” PMG Dela Cruz said during the presentation.

According to the World Mail Awards online site, PHLPost bagged the award for “its wide-ranging employee program aimed at dramatically enhancing this Postal Services credentials as a champion for social inclusion. Faced with the challenge of supporting remote and vulnerable communities, the Government turned to this Postal Service to distribute cash payments and emergency aid to individuals and families stricken by poverty and natural disasters.”

“Through investment in its people, this Postal Service has been able to achieve a step-change in performance, bringing much needed assistance to the people who need it most,” WMA added.

PMG Dela Cruz looks forward to more progressive years for the corporation citing that with all the developments, the corporation has been inspired and even more challenged to do bolder steps towards making PHLPost relevant and sustainable.

“We owe it to every employee, especially to the letter carriers, all the triumphs and successes the corporation receives. This only attests that we are heading on the right path. With this award we could only go forward and continue to be of service to our fellow Filipino,” PMG Dela Cruz shares after receiving the award.

The WMA is the postal sector’s most prestigious international award giving body that recognizes excellence and innovation at all levels and areas of business from successful customer service initiatives to ground-breaking technological advances.

Source: Official Gazette

Message of Post Master General Josie Dela Cruz in Galing Pook 2014

With utmost felicitations, let me congratulate this year’s recipients of the Galing Pook Awards.

Through the course of its existence, Galing Pook Awards has been a beacon of excellence in search for outstand- ing government programs that thrive in promoting innovative practices in the local governance arena.

As you join the roster of good governance champions, your winning pro- gram has become an instrumentality for genuine reform, public accountability, and transparency.

This recognition will serve as an inspiration among government officials to harness their creative minds and available local resources so as to cultivate novel ideas and developmental programs responsive to the needs of their con- stituency. Further, this will spark hope and optimism at the grass-roots level amid a number of controversies in the country’s political landscape.

We at PHLPost are honored to be a part of this endeavor that mirrors the same ethos that we are espousing in the corporation. We value efforts geared towards innovation, solving problem, and making a difference, in the same way that this year’s outstanding local government programs had pioneered transformation, addressed problems and made an im- pact in the society.

Let this achievement lead you one step closer to a more meaningful journey of arousing other communities to rep- licate your winning program in their locale.

Truly, the hope for a better tomor- row, a better future, and a better Philippines, is within reach as Galing Pook Awards Program and awardees jointly smooth the path to a road marked with opportunities, progress and growth.

Again, congratulations and God speed!

Source: Galing Pook

The Philippines has its first ever female Postmaster General, with the appointment of Maria Josefina M. Dela Cruz as the chief executive of PhilPost, the Philippine Postal Corporation. After being appointed by Dela Cruz officially assumed office on July 18 with a formal handover ceremony at the Main Post Office Building in Liwasang Bonifacio, Manila.

The new Postmaster General is a former three-term governor of Bulacan, the province located just to the north of Manila.

With degrees in management engineering and psychology from the Ateneo de Manila University, Dela Cruz began her public service career aged just 21 with election as the youngest ever member of the local council in the Bulacan town of Bocaue.

However, her appointment as the PhilPost chief is her first position as a government employee.

Josefina Dela Cruz said at her handover ceremony that PhilPost would soon be “reliable, trustworthy and efficient”

Postal employees hope her “vast experience” in public service will bring integrity and a new vision to Philpost, the state-owned company said.

Postmaster General Dela Cruz said of her appointment: “There are many challenges at PhilPost but they can all be overcome. PhilPost will soon be reliable, trustworthy and efficient.”

Dela Cruz takes over from Antonio De Guzman as Postmaster General, who presented his successor with a symbolic PhilPost flag during last month’s handover ceremony.

Source: Post & Parcel