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

Philippines

Here are some interesting covers from the Philippines:

Here is a cover that I sent to Poste Restante in Macau with the expectation of receiving it back since no one would be claiming it (it was addressed to me). Thanks to the dependable and efficient Correios de Macau, I received the cover back with the great chops that they apply at Poste Restante in

These two covers are almost identical, save for the addressee. These covers contained the payment that I made to eBay sellers. Thankfully, they arrived safely at their destinations, payment intact, and were returned to me by the friendly eBay sellers.

This cover is from way back in 2005, around the time when there was the anthrax scare and the fear of terrorism escalated to new heights. This cover was probably opened because it looked suspicious: brown envelope, thick, and thoroughly wrapped in tape! And, to add to that, it's from the Philippines, where the Abu Sayyaf Muslim Terrorist Organization is based! No wonder Border Protection opened it! I do not recall what the contents were, but I do remember that they were eBay items that I purchased shortly before moving to the Philippines.

On 14 April, I was lucky enough to be at the Manila Central Post Office on the actual day of issue of this IRRI set. I had not known of this issue beforehand since there are no announcements made other than at the bulletin board at the Philatelic Division - nothing online. As usual, the official FDCs were not yet ready so I decided to make my own and sent it to myself registered. The cover didn;t come out very well, but it's the thought and the memory that counts, right?

Happy Collecting!

Filipinas

I'm back

So, if you remember my last post, you're probably thinking: this guy talks the talk but doesn't walk the talk! Well, I too am disappointed in myself. I have been too busy here in Macau and have found the time to update only now. (Well, actually, I should be doing something else, but thought doing this would be much more fun). On top of my tardiness, it seems that my external hard rive onto which I save my scans in malfunctioning! Thus, I really can't follow the program I set for myself in the previous post even if I wanted to!

So, I resort to posting some covers that I have received since arrived in Macau. This first set is actually a lot of covers from the Philippines. Some I sent to myself from different parts of the Philippines while the others I sent from the Philippines to correspondences in other countries. I asked them to return the covers to me, and so here they are:

I'm Back!

Hello! I'm back from my three-week absence and, to start things off, here are some covers with recent Philippine issues.

These covers were actually sent by me to exchange partners and stamp dealers abroad, and I asked for them to be returned to me. Enjoy!

Sent to the United States

Sent to Thailand

Sent to Malaysia

Sent to Israel

This one, sent to Lithuania, is quite interesting because the cover was received in very bad order. The scan does not show it very clearly, but the cover was torn open on three sides and wrinkled! There is a stamp on the reverse which I take to explain that this cover was received in this order at the processing center in Vilnius. Who opened this letter and why they opened it is beyond me. May it have been a security measure? If so, why such brutal an opening of the envelope? Was the letter opened in the Philippines, along the way, or in Lithuania?
If only I could read Lithuanian, I would know what the backstamp says and perhaps the answer to my question....

Surprisingly, however, the contents arrive safe and intact according to my exchange partner.

대한민국 - Pilipinas Joint Issue

Just wanted to share this Korea-Philippines joint issue on festivals that was meant to mark the 60th years of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

I find it quite odd that there would be a celebration of the 60th year of relations as I am used to seeing 50th, 75th, and 100th. Why the Philippine Postal Service is so fond of the 60th anniversary of things is beyond me. I recall that there was also an issue in 2007 celebrating 60 years of France-Philippines relations, which according to a French stamp exchange partner went unnoticed in France. (Well, actually, I'm pretty sure it also went unnoticed here save for the few collectors and postal workers and French embassy affiliates in the country.) I also remember a 4v set and S/S celebrating the 60th year of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources. Strange, really.

Well, anyway, here are the issues from the Philippines-Korea issue, which I unexpectedly and coincidentally received on the same day (today).

More on the the featured festivals:

The Panagbenga Festival is held yearly during the month of February. The celebrations are held for over a month and peak periods are the weekends. The Panagbenga Festival showcases the many floral floats and native dances. At this time of year, the City of Pines is almost surely in flower fury over Panagbenga festival, the city's biggest festival.

Panagbenga is a Kankanaey term for "a season of blooming." It is also known as the Baguio Flower Festival, a homage to the beautiful flowers the city is famous for as well as a celebration of Baguio's re-establishment. Since February 1995, it has been held to help Baguio forget the 1990 earthquake that distressed much of the city.

Sonori (Cow Play) in Hangawi. Hangawi (Chuseok), which falls on the 15th of August by the lunar calendar is one of the biggest national holidays in Korea, when people celebrate the year's good harvest and observe worship service to family ancestors. At this time, when newly harvested grains and fruits are abundant, as indicated in the saying "May every day be neither more nor less than Hangawi!", the Sonori is performed. To the tune of cheerful musical instruments of the farmer's band, two people put on straw mats shaped like a cow and visit door to door, wishing for a year of good harvest and peace and tranquility.

대한민국, Россия, and Filipinas

Here is what some may consider a heavily WW2-themed cover as all the stamps, save for the two bird definitives at the left edge, celebrate an event that took place in the Philippines during WW2.

One of the stamps shows the liberation of Los Banos. The raid at Los Baños in the Philippines on 23 February 1945, by a combined U.S. Army Airborne and Filipino guerrilla task force, which resulted in the liberation of 2,147 Allied civilian and military internees from an agricultural school campus turned Japanese internment camp, was celebrated as one of the most successful rescue operations in modern military history. It was the second precisely-executed raid by combined U.S.-Filipino forces within a month, following on the heels of the Raid at Cabanatuan at Luzon on January 30, in which 513 Allied military POWs had been rescued.

The Liberation of Cabanatuan is also shown on one of the stamps. The Raid at Cabanatuan in the Philippines on 30 January 1945 by US Army Rangers, Alamo Scouts and Filipino guerrillas resulted in the liberation of 511 prisoners of war (POWs) from a Japanese POW camp near Cabanatuan and was a celebrated historic achievement involving Allied special forces during World War II.

Edward Dmytryk's 1945 film Back to Bataan starring John Wayne opens by retelling the story of the raid on the Cabanatuan POW camp. The raid was recreated, with great attention to historical accuracy, in the 2005 John Dahl film The Great Raid.

The other stamps celebrate the liberation of other places in the Philippines, such as UST, which I discussed in an earlier post.

Below are two other covers.

Filipinas at 澳門

Here is a neat cover from Macau with some nice, large postmarks and stamps with interesting topics. The ATM on the left has the theme of saving energy and was put into circulation in 2007. The two stamps to the right, whose designs are in my opinion a bit too loud, are part of a 4v set issued in 2001 to celebrate the religious diversity of the small island territory.

Most Chinese in Macau are profoundly influenced by their own tradition and culture, of which Chinese folk religion, that includes the faiths of Taoism, Buddhism and Confucianism, forms an integral part. Macau has a sizable Christian community; Roman Catholics and Protestants constitute 7% and 2% of the population respectively. In addition, 17% of the population follows distilled original Mahayana Buddhism.

The religious diversity in Macau is also evidenced by its most famous landmarks: A- Ma temple (for which it has been said the name "Macau" came from: A-Ma-Gao became Macau) and the ruins of Igreja São Paulo (the facade of the church built in 1602 that has been known at the landmark of Macau).

This second cover from the Philippines also has interesting stamps, but very disappointing postmarks, although, since much cannot be expected from PhilPost, I am used to that. The stamps make up for the low quality postmarks. Notice the two commemoratives from the mid-90s related to the theme of postal service.

The stamp on top shows an illustration of trainees at the Asian-Pacific Postal Training Center in Bangkok, Thailand, and celebrates its 25th year. I assume this is the venue where member countries of the Asia-Pacific Postal Union (APPU). I find it funny that such a center was built since I think postal service is a rather self-explanatory job, but maybe there is more to mail than postmarking, sorting, and delivering.

The stamp on the bottom was issued for National Stamp Collecting Month (November) 1995 and, like other issues in the series, exhibits works of great achievers in Philippine art. This particular stamp, part of a set, shows "Serenade" (Tagalog: "Harana") by Carlos Francisco.

Francisco was a most distinguished practitioner of mural painting for many decades and best known for his historical pieces. He was one of the first Filipino modernists who broke from Fernando Amorsolo's romanticism of Philippine scenes. He was given the highest recognition, the title National Artist of the Philippines - Visual Arts posthumously in 1973.

The stamp on the far left, next to the four P1 bird definitives, is part of a set that celebrates the liberation of certain parts of the Philippines after the Japanese, who occupied the islands, left in 1945. This stamps shows the liberation of UST, one of the oldest universities in the Philippines (founded 26 April 1611). It shows the "Arch of the Centuries," which is a landmark of the school.

The Arch of the Centuries was originally erected in 1611 at Intramuros, where UST was originally found. When the University transferred to its present location at Sampaloc, the Arch was also carried piece-by-piece and was re-erected at the front of the main vehicular entrance of the University. The original Arch which faces the Main Building was the main doorway to the university building before it was destroyed during World War II when it was at Intramuros. A newer arch, which is a reconstruction of the original arch, faces España Boulevard. The inscription on the arch says "Gateway to the history of the finest breed of Filipinos," a reference to the numerous alumni who have made an impact in Philippine history.
There is an old superstition that while studying at the University, you must never pass through the Arch until your graduation. If done so, an event will happen that will not allow you to graduate at the school.