A Case of Postal Fraud

For this post I have an example of postal forgery which was done by none other than the postal clerk herself.

I show here a scan of the cover and I also post a copy of the letter I have sent to the Postmaster General of PhilPost.

Quezon City

08 March 2011

Atty. Antonio Z. de Guzman, CESO I

Postmaster General

Philippine Postal Corporation

Liwasang Bonfiacio 1000

Manila

Re: Case of Postal Fraud

Cc: Ms. Elenita DL San Diego

Dear Atty. de Guzman,

I have been meaning to write this letter for quite some time now, but circumstance has not afforded me the luxury of free time to do so until now. Nonetheless, I hope that the passage of time will not hold prejudice against the gravity of the matter at hand.

In January of this year, I was on a trip to the Ilocos region and I visited the usual tourist attractions; Vigan, Bangui, Pagudpud, and Paoay. As is my usual practice when on a trip away from home, I made sure to send myself some covers as souvenirs from my trip to add to my collection. I do this as much as possible whenever I travel as I am a cover collector interested in collecting as many different postmarks as possible. This is why the covers I send are addressed both to and from my address.

One of the post offices that I visited during the trip to send myself a cover was the Paoay Post Office (Zip: 2902) in Ilocos Norte. It is a small and run-down post office, as can be expected from small provincial Philpost branches. When I visited, I believe that there was only one postal clerk to attend to customers, of which I suspect there are few anyhow.

At any rate, I had a terrible experience at the Paoay Post Office. The postal clerk was rude and seemed as though she would rather be doing something else (although I cannot blame her, really). I try my best to be polite to these older ladies who work at post offices because I understand their plight, but this old lady was certainly a tough nut and I left the post office upset with what transpired during my visit.

What upset me most was the fact that she refused to frank my covers with postage stamps and then tie the stamps to the cover in front of me so that I would know what to expect in my postal box when the letter would arrive (postal clerks do this for me most of the time – even abroad). It was not the lack of postage stamps that kept her from doing so as I saw with my own two eyes that she had a canister of the recent marine biodiversity definitive stamps. I kept insisting on her to frank my envelope, but it seemed as though my requests were falling on deaf ears as she was giving the cold shoulder. All she did was stuff my envelope in the canister with the mint stamps. This was what really ignited my frustration and caused me to up and leave the place with a huge frown. I really did not understand why she could not let me see her frank my envelope.

I would learn the reason when I received the cover. Thankfully, I sent my letter registered and so I had proof of mailing which compelled the postal clerk to actually send my letter. Perhaps, had I not sent the letter registered, it would have conveniently found its way to the garbage bin and the lady would not be “digging her own grave,” so to speak.

The reason why she refused to frank my cover with postage stamps is because she never had the intention of doing so – at least with real postage stamps. She used FAKE postage stamps on the cover.

I attach hereto a reproduction in black and white of the cover in question, zoomed in to allow for a better view of the fake stamp, which does not even have perforations! In fact, it seems that the stamp is just a color photocopy done on normal typewriting paper and then cut into squares of paper. Anyway, the main point is that it is fake. Also, notice that the cancel on the cover is very heavy; most likely this was an effort to cover up the fake stamp and make it less noticeable. Ironically enough, it was this heavy cancel that initially made me happy and caused me to further examine it (clear chops are a rarity these days and cover collectors like me are very happy when we receive them on our covers).

To add insult to injury, I was charged PhP 38 to send my letter. I have been made aware that the tariff for a registered letter from Paoay to Metro Manila is only PhP30. I do not mind shelling out the extra PhP 8 if it is for a legitimate reason, but it is the idea that I was charged extra money most probably to cover for the production cost of the fake stamp itself that irks me! The audacious nerve of the postal clerk is just beyond me!

I do not write this letter as a disgruntled philatelist, but rather as a concerned citizen. Actually, I should be a bit happy because the cover I have in my collection with a fake stamp and clear cancels is a valuable item, if not an interesting conversation piece. Many fellow collectors from abroad have asked me to send them such a cover, but I told them that I would not intentionally play a part in postal fraud and also that Paoay is just too far away.

Beyond the issue of the stamp being a curious philatelic novelty, consider the implications this may have on your revenues as a government agency struggling to keep standing on its own two feet. While Paoay may not have as many customers as other post offices like those in metropolitan areas, it is still lost revenue on the part of the PhilPost. This is not to mention the moral and ethical dimension of this matter and the need for justice to be served. We cannot successfully run a post office if its own employees are cheating it. It would be like a worker hammering at a brick wall while his co-workers are struggling to build it. And should this situation escalate to a larger scale and see more and more postal clerks committing fraud, the post office might shut down altogether. I am not one to sit back and let that happen on my guard and certainly hope that you are the same.

The Portuguese have a saying, “Água mole em pedra dura, tanto bate até que fura,” which is roughly translated as, “Water dripping day by day wears the hardest rock away.” I believe that we should not let this situation get out of hand and that we should prevent it from boring a hole in the postal system while we can. I hope you are of the same opinion and that you also sense the same urgency that I do.

Should my participation be required in further proceedings regarding this matter, I would like to inform you beforehand that I will not be able to attend to such matters after mid-May as I will be leaving the country for a few months, if not for good. Thus, please do inform me as to how I can help and what more I should do to see to it that this matter be addressed and resolved.

With hope that we can work together in purging the post office of such heinous and immoral practices as postal fraud practiced by none other than postal clerks themselves, I remain

Yours Most Sincerely,

Myron De La Paz

To Africa and Back

Here are two covers that I sent to Africa and were returned to me unclaimed. I'm not surprised because I found these addresses on old covers from my collection (they were from the 70s and 80s) and I had a great big hunch that they really would be returned to me. I just wanted to see how long it would take and, of course, I wanted to see all the frankings that they would apply. I should have known better than to put such large stamps and M/S's that there was not much space for the frankings and stickers and now the covers are a bit messy... Oh well... These are nice pieces nonetheless. :-)

1. Sent: 23.07.10 Manila CPO
   
2. Dispatched: 27.07.10 Manila Processing Center
3. Transit: 12.08.10 Johannesburg Mail Center (according to online tracking service)
   
4. Arrived: 13.09.10 Abidjan Processing Center
   
5. Distributed: 14.09.10 Abidjan 03
6. First Notice: 14.09.10 Abidjan 03
7. Second Notice: 22.09.10 Abidjan 03
8. Returned: 19.10.10 Abidjan Processing Center
9. Arrived: 04.11.10 Manila Processing Center
10. Distributed: 09.11.10 Quezon City Central P.O.
11. Distributed: 09.11.10 Araneta Center P.O.
12. Received: 15.11.10 by me

TRAVEL TIME: 3 months, 23 days (115 days)

1. Sent: 23.07.10 Manila Central PO
2. Dispatched: 27.07.10 Manila Processing Center
3. Arrived: 19.08.10 Ouaga CNT
4. Second Notice: 14.09.10 Ouagadougou
5. Arrived: 21.10.10 Manila Processing Center
6. Distributed: 26.10.10 Quezon City PO
7. Distributed: 28.10.10 Araneta Center PO
8. Received: 08.11.10 by me
   

TRAVEL TIME: 3 months, 16 days (108 days)

SASE's from my Indochina Trip

These are the covers that I managed to send myself when I visited the post office during my trip. I usually send myself covers when I travel (even internally) so that I can gauge the time it takes for transit; it's really amazing when sometimes the letter is already in your mailbox when you get back from a (no-so-long) trip! I also send myself covers for the stamps and the frankings. I usually enjoy receiving these more than I do buying those other souvenirs when I go abroad.

Việt Nam
VIETNAM

ราชอาณาจักรไทย
THAILAND

ព្រះរាជាណាចក្រកម្ពុជា
CAMBODIA

Belize

Wow! It has been months since my last post! I have been so caught up with using facebook and uploading my covers there that I almost completely forgot about my blog! Not good....

So for this "renaissance" post, I exhibit a great cover received from Jose Riveroll of Belize the other day as part of a CCCC (http://covercollectors.org/) circuit.
The cover features some nice, large pictorial stamps with clear postmarks. Incredible! This is my first from Belize.


On top of a great-looking cover, I have found the themes of the stamps to my liking. The first two on the left feature one of my favorite themes: archeology! :-)
The stamp on the far left was issued as a definitive in 2009, but has the same design and denomination as the 2005 12v definitive set to which the stamp next to it belongs.


The 25c stamps shows the Attun Ha Archeological Reserve and showcases the very famous Jade Head. More information on the Jade Head from Belize.com is quoted verbatim below (as per the request of the administrators of Belize.com, I include only the first paragraph. You may read more about the head by clicking on the link):

Kinich Ahau - the Maya Sun God Jade Head

At right - Kinich Ahau - The Maya Sun God. Ever since its discovery, the jade head has been the subject of much controversy among Belizeans. For years most of us have believed that, shortly after its discovery, this unique Maya masterpiece was spirited out of the country and never returned to its rightful home.

Read more about it by clicking on this link.

The 15c stamp depicts the Lubaantun, a pre-Columbian ruined city of the Maya civilization in Belize's Toledo District. One of the most distinguishing features of Lubaantun is the large collection of miniature ceramic objects found on site; these detailed constructs are thought to have been charmstone s or ritual accompanying acoutrements. Of particular note are the site's three courts for playing the Mesoamerican ballgame, one of which had stone markers with hieroglyphic texts and depictions of the ballgame. (Wikipedia) Below is an image of one such marker:


The other two stamps on the right were apparently issued for Christmas 2003. They are part of a 4v set which features the Scarlet Macaw.


From Wikipedia:

The Scarlet Macaw (Ara macao) is a large, colorful macaw. It is native to humid evergreen forests in the American tropics. It has suffered from local extinction through habitat destruction and capture for the parrot trade, but locally it remains fairly common. The Scarlet Macaw can live up to 75 years in captivity, although, a more typical lifespan is 40 to 50 years. They eat mostly fruits and seeds, including large, hard seeds. They like nuts and fruits. They also feed on nectar and buds. A typical sighting is of a single bird or a pair flying above the forest canopy, though in some areas flocks can be seen.

Cover Collector's Nightmare

I have complained and ranted many times in the past about the crazy practices of the Philippine Postal Service, and here I present you with an exhibit of proof of how they can destroy covers.

Already prone to damage because of its large size, this cover was "taped" and postmarked for "security purposes" to prove that the letter arrived at the mail processing center in bad order. Ironically, they made the matter worse by putting tape and applying strange markings.....

Thankfully, the cover was not particularly philatelic, or I'd be wailing the loss due to strange Philippine postal practices....

中國

Here is a personal FDC from China sent from Shanghai on 03.07.2010.
The cover has the 2v set issued to showcase the ruins of the Loulan Ancient City (楼兰古城遗 址).

Loulan or Kroran is an ancient oasis town on the north-eastern edge of the Lop Desert. Loulan, known to Russian archaeologists as Krorayina, was an ancient kingdom along the Silk Road. In 108 BCE, the Han Dynasty defeated the armies of the Loulan kingdom and made it into a puppet/allied state. The kingdom became integrated into the Han Dynasty and was given the Chinese name of Shanshan, though the town at the northwestern corner of the brackish desert lake Lop Nur retained the name of Loulan. The ruins of the town of Loulan are on what were the western banks of Lop Nur, now dessicated, in the Bayin'gholin Mongol Autonomous Prefecture, Xinjiang. The site is now completely submerged in the desert

The stamp on the left shows the 佛塔 or Pagoda, and the stamp to the right shows the 三间房 or the three walled sections.

Principat d'Andorra

Here's another cover from Andorra which I like very much because of the concept behind the stamp design.... It is not so evident in the scan, but the stamp has a reflective surface (although the reflection is not at all clear) in the shape of a mirror. This stamp was issued for the Europa 2010 issues, and the common theme this year is Children's Books, so I am guessing that this stamp is a reference to the story of Snow White. The inscription around the "mirror" is Catalan for, "Mirror, magic mirror, tell me who is..." which I guess is the first half the famous line in English: "Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who's the fairest of them all?"

Wallis et Futuna

Here us a cover from another exotic part of the world: Wallis and Futuna! W&F is an Overseas French Collectivity of three larger, volcanic islands and many smaller islets around those. Here is a map to show exactly where (and exactly how remote) this place is.



I will not dwell too much on the stamps as they are not really my topic, but I will say that we also have many varieties of Bougainvillea here in the Philippines, so it is interesting to see that they also have that in Wallis and Futuna!

ශ්‍රී ලංකා

Sri Lankan script, called Sinhala, is an offsrping of Indian Brahmi script and, to an untrained eye like mine, it can easily pass for some type of decorative border designs.

At any rate, here are two covers I have received from this nation. I received another one before through the CCCC, but I decided to just save the stamps since the envelope used was of extremely poor quality, resulting in the deterioration of the envelope on its way to me in Macau (where I was staying at the time).

At any rate, this first one with the meter postage is the first I received way back in 2007!
While I generally do not like meter postage, I sort of like the design on the Sri Lankan one, and the imprint is not bad, either, especially considering that most meter postage in third world countries like India and the Philippines are often unintelligible!


This second cover is not in very good condition as it is actually a large bubble wrap envelope, but I like the design on the side and the overall look of the cover nonetheless. It's just such a pity that the envelope was damaged on its way to me, probably because it was a bubble wrap envelope prone to piercing.....

As requested, my friend Clarence George used the 4v Olympics set and the 60 years of independence stamp (which I like very much since Independence issues are among my favorite themes). Thank you very much for that, Clarence!

Uruguay

Here's what could have been a nice cover, but there are so many things wrong with it:

1. The envelope size is huge!
2. The makeshift "Carta Priotaria" label is of low quality
3. The postal workers in the Philippines decided to write their storage number "02700" in big, bold permanent marker
4. The address is not handwritten

Well, what can you expect from a non-collector, right? This was sent by an eBay member.

Just thought I might share it anyway.

About the stamps, besides the two Olympics stamps on the right (which were carelessly affixed crookedly and with no seeming care for aesthetic spacing), there are some stamps that show Uruguayan festivals.

Three of the stamps feature Fermina Gularte (known better as Martha), who was a well-known Black Uruguayan dancer and showgirl in the Montevideo Carnivals.

The vignette features the "Desfile de Llamadas," (lit. Sp. "Parade of the Calls"), which is a festival held every year in February. Part of the festivities is a competition, for which contending groups rehearse during much of the year to participate in one of the most popular fiestas in Uruguay.

The name "Llamadas" has its origins in the nineteenth century when the slaves of black used drums to communicate. After abolition of slavery in Uruguay, this practice continued as a tradition between different families. who would come out and share time together. It is one of the purest manifestations of Afro-Uruguayan culture.