SENIOR officials of the Philippine Postal Corp. (PhilPost) have raised concerns over the ongoing power struggle within the state-owned corporation, causing psychological stress, anxiety, and low morale among employees.

In a strongly worded manifesto obtained by The Manila Times, the officials, led by three assistant postmaster generals and several unit and division heads of PhilPost, have called on government leaders, stakeholders and partners in governance to "aid them in their quest" for the immediate resolution of the leadership problem.

PhilPost is being wracked by the power struggle between Luis Carlos, who was appointed as Postmaster General last April 2023 but was sacked by the board of directors, and former Quezon City councilor Michael Planas, who was appointed as Chairman by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. last month and was later appointed Postmaster General and Chief Executive Officer thereafter.

In an interview with The Times on Friday, Assistant Postmaster General for Administration and Finance Benjie Yotoko said that with both Carlos and Planas reporting as Postmaster General, the employees are confused over whose order to follow.

"If one calls for a meeting, staff members face a damned-if-you-do and damned-if-you-don't threat, so there will always be a legal implication that would earn a staff a show cause order and get charged," Yotoko said.

"We are not choosing sides, all we want to do is to work for the corporation, for the public, for our family, Anyone of them can sit as PMG," Yotoko said.

Acting Assistant Postmaster General for Management Support Services Maximo Sta Ana III said that the leadership issue came about when President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. appointed the board of directors and later appointed an acting postmaster general in Carlos, who only has a term of one year.

Sta. Ana said that having two leaders affected the post office in terms of decision-making, approvals, and external decisions.

"Since the post office is an aging population, the stress level is high, [there are] sleepless nights, the fear that is typical in a government [agency], what happens is that if we are not allies, we will be moved to a department beyond our scale, knowledge and location, that is what is happening, that's why we came up with a manifesto," Sta. Ana said.

Assistant Postmaster General for Operations Lori Ann Atal said that because of the leadership crisis, employees of PhilPost are on a "survival mode" as any wrong move could cost them their jobs.

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