PHILIPPINE POST OFFICE BUILDING

Classification
Category: Building
Ownership: Public
Public Acquisition: In progress
SITE LOCATION
Status: Occupied
Accessible to public: Yes
LIWASANG BONIFACIO ERMITA Present Use: Government
MANILA CITY METRO MANILA Owner of Property
NCR Owner's Name: National Government
Period: American
Area of Significance: Communications,
Architecture, Urban Planning
Architect: Juan Arellano

In

the original masterplan of the city of Manila commissioned to Daniel Burnham, the location of the
Philippine Post Office building in the Ermita district of the city east of Intramuros. The building is placed on
the frontage of the Pasig River for easy water transportation of mails. Moreover, its central location with
converging avenues made the building readily accessible from all sides. Its main entrance faces the
Liwasang Bonifacio.

DESCRIPTION

Manila Post Office, Juan Arellanos espousal of monumental neoclassism in the Philippine architectural
scenography imbued the American form of government and civic culture with presence and made
unerringly palpable its imperial aspiration in ferroconcrete. To some extent then, Pax Americana in the
Pacific translated into a global urbanism of a neoclassical standard and a civilationized dynamic
predicated on the marmoreal tradition of the ages.

This building that is simply known as the Post Office Building is one of the few neoclassical buildings in
the country that has withstood the test of time. It is a reflection of Western influence in the country during
and after the American occupation. It is considered a historical landmark because of the fact that it is
among the few landmarks that bore witness to both the old and the new Manila.
HISTORY

PHLPOST

The Philippine postal system has a

history spanning over 250 years.
The first post office was established
in the city of Manila in 1767. It was
organized under a new postal
district of Spain in 1779,
encompassing Manila and the
entire Philippine archipelago. In
1783, the postal service was
organized in the Philippines-
overseas mail from the Philippines
was conveyed to Europe by
Spanish ships via eastbound routes
through Mexico. Later on, the postal
district was re-established on
December 5, 1837. After a year,
Manila became known as a leading
center of postal services within
Asia. Spain joined the Universal Postal Union in 1875, which was announced in the Philippines
two years later.

The Philippine Postal System

(PHLP) has quite a remarkable
history. It was first established in
Manila during 1767. Later in 1779,
Spain managed the postal office
serving the entire Philippine
archipelago. As an important part
of the trade route from Spain,
Mexico and the Philippines, it was
integral in maintaining
communication between the
colonies and the ruling monarchs of
Spain.

The first known location of the

Manila Post Office was on the
Escolta, next to the Estera de la Reina close to the Santa Cruz church. It sat in the corner of this
building behind the awnings.
 The post office was transferred to offices in the westerly part of the building complex shown below
right, known as the Cuartel Fortin, located on the south side of the Pasig River by Plaza Lawton
just about where the new Post Office building would be built years later. The Bridge of Spain can
be seen in the middle right hand side.

TIMELINE

1767-The first post office was established in the City of Manila.

1926-The Manila Central Post Office was built in its present neo-classical architecture.

1942-During the Japanese occupation, the then- Bureau of Posts was reopened,
although the letters were censored.

1946-The Manila Central Post Office was rebuilt after World War II.

This official transmitter of mail, money and goods traces its beginnings to Act No. 462 of
the Philippine Commission on September 15, 1902, creating the Bureau of Posts. Postal service
in the country, albeit crude and slow, began during the Spanish period with horse-riding couriers

till it reached the marked improvements which the Americans initiated. The present building which
houses the bureau hums daily with brisk postal service.

Now under the Ministry of Public Works, Transportation and Communication, the Bureau of Posts,
now houses a modern and efficient look with its mechanized automatic letter-sorting machine,
new Postal Code, Metropolitan Airmail Network, motorized letter carriers and all other new
facilities.

The Post
Aerial Office's
view of thefacade during
City of the
Manila Battle
and of
the Post
ARCHITECTURE Manila Building,
Office in 1945. Manila was completion
after its the second in
most
1931
devastated city after Warsaw.
The Manila Post Office Building is a perfect model of Neo-Classical architecture by the prominent
architects of the early American period, Ralph Doane, Tomas Mapua, and Juan Arellano. The
building may be regarded as one of the first truly Neo-Classical monuments in the Philippines and
considered superior to the Legislative Building.
The Post Office boasted a harmonious combination of proportions, purity of lines, and chastity of
detail the paralleled the Lincoln Memorial. The faade was defined by a huge, rectangular volume
flanked and buttressed by two semicircular wings. The composition was crowned by an attic
storey which negated the otherwise severe simplicity of the faade. Emphasis was placed on the
portico where the rhythm of sixteen Ionic columns

This building, a post office, was designed to cater services to the public in a semi-commercial
capacity. Besides the housing of governmental offices on the various floors, a spacious lobby is
on the main floor occupying almost the entire length of the front of the building. To one side of this
lobby is a continuous counter with grilles set with window intervals. From this lobby one could see
the towering fluted Ionic pillars of the portico and imagine himself transported to the Greek
temples of antiquity. This imagining could only be restrained by the edifice's modern aspects: the
elevators, office rooms, and the business counter itself.
The Philippine postal system has a history spanning over 250 years. The first post office was
established in the city of Manila in 1767. It was organized under a new postal district of Spain in
1779, encompassing Manila and the entire Philippine archipelago. In 1783, the postal service was
organized in the Philippines-overseas mail from the Philippines was conveyed to Europe by
 Spanish ships via eastbound routes through Mexico.
Later on, the postal district was re-established on
December 5, 1837. After a year, Manila became
known as a leading center of postal services within
Asia. Spain joined the Universal Postal Union in 1875,
which was announced in the Philippines
two years later.

During the Philippine Revolution,

President Emilio Aguinaldo ordered the
establishment of a postal service to
provide postal services to Filipinos during
that time. On September 5, 1902, it was
organized as a bureau under the
Department of Trade (currently known as
Department of Trade and Industry) by
virtue of Act No. 426, which was passed
by the Philippine Commission. The
Philippines finally joined the Universal
Postal Union in January 1, 1922 as a
sovereign entity.

The Manila Central Post Office Building,

the center of the Philippine postal
services and the headquarters of then-
Bureau of Posts, was completed in 1926. It
was destroyed during World War II (1945) but was rebuilt in 1946, after the war.

The Manila Central Post Office located at Liwasang Bonifacio is a neo-classical building designed
by two American architects and a Filipino namely: Ralph Doane, Tomas Mapua, and Juan Marcos
de Guzman Arellano. The Post Office Building was considered as the grandest building during its
time, and is now considered as one of the dominating landmarks in Metro Manila.

With the overhaul of the Philippine bureaucracy in 1987, the Bureau of Post was renamed the
Postal Service Office (PSO) by the virtue of Executive Order No. 125 issued by then-President
Corazon Aquino on April 13, 1987. It was also that order which placed PSO under the Department
of Transportation and Communications (DOTC). On April 2, 1992, by virtue of the Republic Act
No.7354 issued by then-President Fidel V. Ramos, PSO became a government owned and
controlled corporation named as the Philippine Postal Corporation of more commonly known
today as PHLPost. Above text from: www.phlpost.gov.ph

The Manila Post Office was strategically located by Daniel Burnham at the foot of Jones Bridge
because of two reasons. First was that the Pasig River could be used conveniently as an easy
route for delivering mail and secondly, the post office could be accessible from all sides including
Quiapo, Binondo, Malate, and Ermita.

Considered to be Juan Arellanos magnum opus, it was designed in the neoclassical style that
expressed order and balance. It was built in 1926 and was worth one million pesos. Fronting the
huge, rectangular volume are the 16 Ionic pillars lined that are lined up above the steps just
before entering the lobby. The main body of the building is capped by a recessed rectangular attic
storey and flanked and buttressed by two semi-circular wings. Inside, the main lobby has
subsidiary halls at each end housed under the semi-circular spaces roofed with domes.
The plans on completing the post office building was made public on November 28, 1927 but the
awarding of the project happened a year after in 1928. From August 2, 1920 up to January 9,
1922, the foundation was laid out. The work was put on hold because of the scarcity of funds but
was reported to be 56% complete towards the end of the year. The completion of the building was
continued on February 1928.

Proposals for the completion of the Manila Post Office Building were made known on November
28, 1927 but the awarding of the project was made only in 1928.