PHLPost: Retired Justice Stephen Cruz to champion Manila Central Post Office rehab and revitalized Postal Bank

Former Court of Appeals Justice Stephen C.  Cruz has taken his oath of office as Chairman of the Philippine Postal Corporation (PHLPost), before Executive Secretary and former Chief Justice Lucas Bersamin which was held  August 27 in Malacanang Palace.

On top of PHLPost, Chairman Cruz plans include the restoration, rehabilitation and determination of the “best use” of the burnt historic Manila Central Post Office building together with the Inter-Agency Task Force for the MCPO rehabilitation headed by the Department of Tourism.

He will work for the establishment of a Postal Museum, and allied works related to the promenade and development of tourism, consistent with the various projects of the Marcos Administration.

Also, he will exert all effort for the return and digitalization of the postal bank. The OF Bank (formerly PostalBank) was transferred by the previous administration to Landbank.

Chairman Cruz programs signal a new beginning towards a harmonious working relationship with Postmaster General and CEO Luis D. Carlos especially in the digital transformation of the postal service.

He will likewise lobby for the immediate return of the Postal ID as a functional card due to the insistent demand and clamor of thousands of Filipinos here and abroad who wish to acquire and renew their Postal Identity Card (Postal ID).

Chairman Cruz is a graduate of the Ateneo Law School Class of 1976. He joined former President Ferdinand Marcos Sr. office as a legal officer in 1977, the year he passed the bar.  In 1980, he worked as Senior Associate Attorney at Nazareno Law Office.

He served as Presiding Judge of the Lucena RTC Branch 60 for 6 years from 2000-2006, before being appointed to the Court of Appeals-Manila in 2006 until 2020.

With more than 37 years of law practice, Justice Cruz teaches at the University of the East College of Law, Enverga University College of Law, and San Carlos University in Cebu. He also taught at the Philippine Christian University College of Law.

Cruz replaced Mike Planas, who served PHLPost for 3 months, as Chairman of the Board of Directors. –