Up to 7,000 national IDs destroyed in Manila Central Post Office fire

MANILA, Philippines – Around 5,000 to 7,000 national identification cards were destroyed along with thousands of letters and documents in the fire that hit the Manila Central Post Office, Manila Postmaster Noel Dacasin said on Tuesday, May 23.

He said the national IDs lost in the fire were only those for delivery in the City of Manila.

The owners of these IDs will be notified by either the Manila Central Post Office or the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), Dacasin said.

The postmaster said they are already coordinating with the PSA to reach out to the owners, but he could not yet provide a timeframe.

The PSA, meanwhile, assured the public that the burned national IDs will be replaced by the agency for free.

On Tuesday, 2,588 national IDs addressed to Manila residents were brought to the PHLPost Surface Mail Exchange Department in the Port Area. These came from the Central Mail Exchange Center in Pasay City.

Dacasin aims to have these national IDs, as well as letters and other parcels, delivered on Wednesday, May 24.

The Manila Central Post Office fire broke out late Sunday evening, May 21, and was put out early Tuesday morning, more than 30 hours later.

The Bureau of Fire Protection pegged the initial cost of damage at P300 million. – Rappler.com