QUEZON CITY – COURAGE, the militant national center of government
employees, announced today that the 13,000 employees of the Philippine Postal
Corporation (Philpost) are gearing for nationwide protests to push for the
immediate release of unpaid benefits.
In a statement, COURAGE said the Philpost employees sought their
assistance to make public the growing restiveness of the country’s letter carriers.
“The list of unpaid benefits is proof of the injustice being inflicted on the
employees. This include the 25% of the half of the 13th month pay
they are supposed to receive this May; P4,500 of the P10,000 Christmas bonus
given in December last year; Unpaid overtime pay for December 2008; the
Productivity Incentive bonus; P4,000 Clothing allowance; Letter carriers
gasoline allowance and the Letter carriers walking allowance. Majority of the
employees here are receiving Salary Grade 1 or Minimum pay of P6,149 a month
sans deductions”, Santi Dasmarinas Jr., COURAGE Secretary General said.
The leader stated that a Congressional investigation may be necessary
too because while the employees were being deprived of their legitimate
benefits, charges of corruption, anomalies and mismanagement also hound the
state’s Postal agency.
Based on the information provided to COURAGE by a movement of Postal
employees for better courier services for the people, the management under the
helm of Postmaster General Hector RR.Villanueva is reportedly involved in the
imbroglio, including the Philpost-USA anomaly involving $2 million.
“The Postmaster General, Assistant Postmaster General and Corporate
Secretary has afforded themselves a salary/compensation increase of P30,000 per
month in March 2008, excessive travels abroad, the hiring of consultants with P40,000/mo. each salary and
anomalous projects supposedly meant to improve and upgrade the mailing
services. These and other mismanagement practices apparently has been bleeding
the Philpost some P500 million in 2 years alone”.
Dasmarinas added that the management’s insensitivity towards the plight
of the employees is appalling considering that it is also poised to expropriate
the funds of the employees’ Provident Fund.
“In a bid to replenish the already drained coffers of the agency and
appease the employees, the Postmaster General issued a memo to use the
Provident Fund to pay some of its obligations. It’s like frying the employees
on their own lard. It’s illegal and immoral because the employees’ Provident
Fund was primarily established to augment their meager pay”, the leader pointed
out.
COURAGE said they will support the Postal employees and their campaign
to improve the Postal services. #