[ PPC, November 18, 1993 ]
RULES ON THE ESTABLISHMENT, OPERATION, CONTROL AND SUPERVISION OF POSTAL STATIONS
Establishment of Postal Station
SECTION 1. Definition - A postal station is a facility operated by a private person or entity or local government unit under permit and guidelines duly issued by the Corporation for the purpose of performing postal business functions specifically authorized and enumerated in the permit issued by the Corporation.
SECTION 2. Classes of Postal Station - There are three (3) classes of postal stations authorized by the Corporation to be operated, to wit:
a. A postal station operated by established businesses, the sale of postal product is an added feature to their main line of business;
b. A postal station operated by a private person or entity, the sale of postal product is the main line of their business; and
c. A postal station operated by the local government unit.
SECTION 3. Who May Operate o Pastel Station - a) Filipino citizens, cooperatives, partnerships or corporations whose authorized capital stock is owned and controlled by Filipinos;
b. Any natural or juridical person duly registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission or Cooperative Development Authority and/or Bureau of Domestic Trade with a paid up capital of Two Hundred Fifty Thousand Pesos (P250,000.00);
c. Local government units under Permit duly issued by the Corporation.
SECTION 4. Qualification of an Operator of a Postal Station - a) For single proprietorship, the operator must be of good moral character and shall submit to the Corporation an NBI clearance issued not earlier than six (6) months prior to the filing of an application and from the appropriate Prosecutor's Office;
b. For juridical person, an NBI clearance issued not earlier than six (6) months prior to the filing of an application and appropriate Prosecutor's Office of all officers thereof shall be required, including the list of all officers of such juridical person;
c. Former postal employees whose services had been satisfactory, shall be preferred as operator provided such employee had complied with the capitalization, surety bond and fees requirements of the Corporation. Provided however, that he had never been charged or convicted criminally or administratively of an offense involving moral turpitude as evidenced by a clearnace from the Legal Service of the Corporation and the Ombudsman.
SECTION 5. Disqualified From Applying a Permit - a) Officers, employees and members of the Board of Directors of the Philippine Postal Corporation and their relatives within the fourth civil degree, by affinity or consanguinity;
b. Persons, partnerships or corporations which have derogatory records such as, but net limited to over-charging of postage stamps, false documentation or misrepresentation of facts, swindling or estafa and those convicted of crimes involving moral turpitude;
c. Persons, partnerships, or corporations whose permit has been previously cancelled/ revoked for violation of postal laws and Labor Code, or its implementing rules and regulations;
d. Person, partnerships, or corporations engaged in the operation of private messengerial delivery service,
SECTION 6. Requirements to Operate a Postal Station - a) Filing of application in prescribed form to operate a postal station together with proof of registration:
1 For Corporation a copy of Articles of Incorporation duly registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and a Certificate of Registration of the firm or business name from the Bureau of Domestic Trade (BDT);
2. For Partnership a copy of Articles of Partnership duly registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and a Certificate or Registration of the firm or business name from the BDT;
3. For Single Proprietorship a copy of a Certificate of Registration of the firm or business name from the BDT.
b. Proof of Financial Capacity:
1. For existing companies:
- Corporate/Individual Income Tax Returns for the past two (2) years;
- Proof of paid up capitalization of at least P250.000.00.
- Proof of paid up capitalization of at least P250.000.00.
- Business permit/license from the national and/or local government unit.
- Sketch of the main office location.
- The applicant shall have undergone a training for thin purpose given by the Corporation, evidenced by a Certificate to this effect.
b. The permit must be consecutively numbered, showing the postal region, the year and the number. For instance, a permit issued for Postal Region I shall be numbered as follows: "PERMIT NO. PR 1-93-01"
c. Under no circumstances that the approved location of the postal station be transferred to another site without the approval of the Postmaster General and without payment of the prescribed fees.
SECTION 8. Surety Bond - a) After the approval of the application for a permit to operate a postal station but before the issuance of a permit, the operator shall be required to post a Surety Bond in the amount of P150,000.00 callable on demand in favor of the Corporation from a bonding company acceptable to the Corporation. The Surety Bond shall contain the following conditions:
- Answer for all valid and legal claims arising from violations of the conditions for the grant and use of the permit;
- Answer for whatever losses, delays, damages, pilferages of injuries Incurred to the mail posted in their respective postal station before the same is taken custody by the Corporation's personnel or for any pecuniary loss the Corporation may suffer as a result of any offenses committed by its employees it authorized to take charge of the postal station.
- Guarantee compliance with the provisions of the Labor Code and its implementing rules and regulations relating to wages and employee's benefits, the rules and regulations of the Corporation and all liabilities which the Corporation may impose.
- That notice to the principal is notice to the Surety Bond and that any judgment against the principal in connection with matters falling under the Corporation's jurisdiction shall be binding and conclusive on Surety.
- That the Surety Bond shall be co-terminus with the validity of the permit.
Operation of Postal Stations
SECTION 8. Operations Procedure - The Postmaster General is hereby authorized to promulgate implementing guidelines on the approval of applications and operations procedure of the postal stations subject to the following policies:
a. The operations procedure must be consistent with the postal business functions granted to the operator of the postal stations.
b. The operator must be required the following signboard:
c. Postal station operated by the local government unit shall have appropriate signage, for example:NAME OF POSTAL STATION
OPERATOR__________________________
ADDRESS __________________________
LOCATION__________________________
AUTHORIZED BY THE PHILIPPINE
POSTAL CORPORATION UNDER
PERMIT NO. __________________________
(NAME OF BARANGAY)
BRGY TREASURER__________________________d. In the case of private postal station, the operator shall be required to provide his/her teller in each postal station with adequate rubber stamps indicating the name of the Postal Station, the permit number, the amount collected, the date posted and the location to be backstamped at each mail item received/posted in their respective postal station.
ADDRESS______________________________
AUTHORIZED BY THE PHILIPPINE
POSTAL CORPORATION UNDER
PERMIT NO. __________________________
Example:e.Except for ordinary mail, the Postmaster General may authorize a service fee or commission for every postal business function granted to the operator.
NAME OF POSTAL STATION
PERMIT NO. __________________________
AMOUNT COLLECTED__________________________
DATE__________________________
LOCATION___________________
f. To preclude saturation of postal stations in urban centers, the Postmaster General shall determine the distance of the proposed postal station from existing post offices or postal station.
g. The Operator shall be required to provide his/her postal station with the necessary equipment and fixtures at his/her own expense, where the authorized rates of postal businesses are indicated and exhibited in full public view, and
h. The structure and size of the postal station must be in accordance with the approved specifications of the Corporation.
Supervision and Control of the Postal Stations
SECTION 9. Prescribed Fees - The following fees shall be paid by the operator with an approved permit to operate to the Cashier of the Philippine Postal Corporation:
a. Registration Fee P20,000.00
This shall be paid by the operator upon issuance of a permit with a two-year duration. This shall be paid only one time,
b. Annual Renewal Fee P5,000.00
This shall be paid by the operator upon filing of an application for renewal.
c. Training Fee P1,000.00
This shall be paid by the operator upon filing of an application for a permit.
d. Branch Fee P1,500.00
This shall be paid by the operator upon approval of the permit to open a branch/unit.
e. Branch renewal fee P1,000.00
f. Relocation fee P500.00
This shall be paid by the operator upon the approval of his permit to relocate a post al station.
This shall be paid by the operator upon the approval of his permit to relocate a post al station.
A postal station operated by the local government unit shall be exempted from the payment of the prescribed fees.
SECTION 10. Advertisement - Advertisement in the form of pamphlets, brochures, leaflets, billboards, etc. produced and paid by an authorized postal station operator must conform with the general guidelines on advertisement of the Corporation and must be approved by the Postmaster General.
SECTION 11. Training - Operators of the postal stations and their employees shall be required to attend an orientation training to be conducted by the Corporation with respect to the proper classification of mails, weighing and determining the correct postal charges that shall be levided on mail items, use of ZIP Code and basic rules on mail service, postal rules and regulations especially the constitutional mandate of privacy of correspondence or communications.
SECTION 12. Record of Stamp Purchase - The operator of postal station shall keep a record indicating the date, total amount, kind, quantity and denomination of stamps purchase and other postal product being served to the public including the name of the post office that sells the stamp. The record shall be kept available for two (2) years, when so required the postal stations shall submit other reports to the postal office concerned.
SECTION 13. Inspection of Premises - The postal station shall be subject to inspection by postal authorities to find out if the postal station is operating in accordance with the pertinent postal rules and regulations, and the record of stamp purchase shall be subject to examination to determine if entires on said record such as date, denomination and quantity of stamps purchase tally with the Postmaster's record as a way of checking if genuine stamps are being sold by the postal station.
SECTION 14. Responsibility of the Postmaster and Other Postal Officers - The local postmaster under whose jurisdiction the postal station is located shall Inspect the mailing centers within his locality at least once in every two months to find out if the postal station is complying with pertinent postal rules and regulations and to report his findings to the Postmaster General. He shall keep a record of postal stations operating under his jurisdiction and the postage stamps purchased by each postal station, and submit a monthly report of the same to the Postmaster General. This is without prejudice to inspection to be conducted by other postal authorities as directed by the Postmaster General.
Postal Station Operated by the Local Government Units (LGUs)
SECTION 15. Postal Station in Rural Areas -For Postal Stations to be operated by barangays, the barangay treasurer shall be appointed by the Postmaster General as postal agent and as such, he shall be responsible for the operation of postal station pursuant to P.D. 869 dated January 6, 1976, which amended R.A. No. 3590, otherwise Known as the Revised Barrio Charter. Said Decree partly provides that:
"g. The Barangay treasurer in the barrio where the postal center is located shall undertake the collection and delivery of mail matters pertaining to the postal circuit to and from the municipal or city post office at lease once a week. Each treasurer of the barrios composing the rural postal circuit shall undertake the collection of mail matter pertaining to his barrio from the postal center and the delivery to the respective addresses.SECTION 16. Rural Postal Circuit -The Regional Manager shall group all contiguous barangays and sitios in each city or municipality which are beyond five (5) kilometers from their respective post offices not served regularly by Postman to constitute a rural postal circuit.
"The Barangay Treasurer of each postal center shall be appointed as postal agent, bonded in accordance with law, and shall be undecr the immediate administrative supervision of the City or Municipal Postmaster insofar as the performance of his postal work is concerned. He shall be empowered to obtain from the Postmaster the necessary postage stamps for sale in the rural postal circuit and shall submit a report of the proceeds of the sales of postage stamps to the Postmaster every month, or upon demand of the latter or the authorized postal officials."
A rural postal circuit shall have a postal station which shall be located in the Barangay Community Center of the Barangay most accessible to all barangays and sitios within the circuit. The rural postal circuit shall be manned and attended by the Barangay Treasurer of the barangay where the circuit is established and shall receive an honorarium of P300.00 a month, chargeable to the allotments of the Regional Office concerned.
SECTION 17. Barangay Postal Station in Urban Centers - For postal stations to be operated by barangays in urban centers, the Postmaster General is likewise authorized to promulgate guidelines in the establishment, operation, supervision and control of the said postal station, including those to be operated by other LGUs.
SECTION 18. Postal Station Operated by Other LGUs - The Postmaster General is authorized to determine the postal stations to be operated by the local government units (LGUs) pursuant to Sec. 32, par. c of Art. VII of R.A. 7354 which states:
"C) Any local government unit may enter into contract with the Corporation for the use of the former's building, facilities, or land, either gratis or for a consideration, or for the management and operation by the local government unit of a post office or postal branch in its territory."
Miscellaneous Provisions
SECTION 19. Revocation of Permit - Violation of any of the above provisions and subsequent orders issued by the postal service governing the operation of postal stations shall be considered ground for cancelling or suspending the permit to operate a postal station without prejudice to the filing of whatever criminal or civil action that the operator may be held liable under the law.
SECTION 20. Applicability - Postal Stations and mailing centers already established or now operating under any authority or permit shall, within sixty (60) days from the date of the effectivity of these rules, secure the necessary "permit to operate a postal station" from the Office of the Postmaster General otherwise their present permit or authority shall be considered cancelled and of no effect after the lapse of said sixty (60) days.
SECTION 21. Employee-Employer Relationship - No employee-employer relationship shall exist between the postal service and the operator or employees of the postal stations. Accordingly, the operator of postal station shall be held liable and responsible for any personal injury or damage including death sustained or caused by any of the personnel assigned to the postal stations, and shall at all times stand solely liable and responsible for the enforcement of and compliance with all existing laws, rules and regulations particularly with respect to the labor Code of the Philippines and all other labor laws and social legislation.
SECTION 22. Publication - These rules shall be publised in two (2) newspapers of general circulation in the Philippines.
SECTION23. Repealing Clause -All rules and regulations governing the operation of mailing centers and postal stations which are inconsistent with these rules are deemed revoked or modified accordingly.
SECTION 24. Effectivity - These rules shall take effect fifteen (15) days after receipt by the U.P. Law Center of three (3) original copies thereof, in accordance with E.O. 292, otherwise known as the Administrative Code of 1987.
Adopted: 18 Nov. 1993
(Sgd.) RENAN V. SANTOS Chairman |
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(Sgd.) EDUARDO P. PlLAPIL |
(Sgd.) PASCUAL. C. KLIATCHKO Member |
(Sgd.) JORGE V. MARIANO III Member |
(Sgd.) ROBERTO LI. AMOR Member |
(Sgd.) FRANCISCO R. FLORO Member |
(Sgd.) RONALDO S. TUAZON Member |