Snail mail still tops in The Philippines

DAVAO CITY – Despite the advent of modern technology and the proliferation of private letter couriers, the Philippine Postal Corp. (PPC) still controls up to 90% of the mail delivery business.

Frendy Gerona, PPC Southern Mindanao information officer, said there is no substitute to public courier service, since it covers the widest reach. “We can even deliver in the middle of Mt. Apo if there’s a community there,” he said, adding that some private courier services are still relying on the PPC in delivering the mails and packages of their clients to hinterland communities.

For the last two years, the PPC in Southern Mindanao has been a major income earner as it registered a 3.87% increase in revenues last year as it collected P80.44 million last year, compared to P77.44 million the previous year. In 2000, it registered an increase in revenue of 5.06% as it only collected P73.72 million in 1999.

The PPC has to earn much in order to pay its employees because it has not received government subsidy in years. The government firm has started to use modern technology, particularly in sorting mails through a machine that will rely on the use of zone improvement plan (ZIP) code in determining the area where the mail is to be sent.

But Mr. Gerona said the PPC may not feel the effect of the electronic mails and the presence of private couriers in the next 10 years because, for one, receiving a hard copy of a letter is very much different from reading it on the computer monitor.