Mike Planas has been elected as the new Postmaster General and CEO of Philippine Postal Corporation (PHLPost). His oathtaking and assumption of office took place on June 18.
According to PHLPost, Planas’s election into office marks the start of new leadership that “vows to re-energize the country’s post office”.
“Under the leadership of chairman Mike Planas as Postmaster General and CEO, the agency is poised to modernize its operations and attain an unprecedented growth trajectory,” the post stated. “He commits to lead the post office toward a digital and cultural transformation that will bring it up to pace with the fast-growing mail and parcel service industry while staying true to its mandate of serving the people.”
Reinventing the post
Planas is an innovation leader and digital transformation expert who sees the post office as an institution that can innovate and reinvent itself by bringing technology into its system. “To prosper, we have to reboot the postal service business and invest in growth opportunities,” he explained.
“With a wide network of more than 1,200 post offices in the country, there is an untapped potential and challenge to bring the post office up to pace with modern delivery practices while servicing the most remote or missionary areas. You don’t expect commercial couriers to deliver mail and packages to far-flung areas but the post office can and will continue to serve the public – wherever they are,” he added.
Building alliances
With the support of the PHLPost board, Planas is set to expand and develop new product lines and build alliances across the logistics value chain to boost PHLPost’s revenues. The post will tap its vast assets of warehouse facilities and partner with e-commerce hubs to better meet the evolving demands of Filipinos at home and abroad. “Logistics is the backbone of modernization by effectively moving forward the flow of goods and mail. We must revitalize and upgrade the postal service to meet the daily needs of the Filipinos and make its mark as a top-earner GOCC,” Planas said.
Planas said he looks forward to future collaboration and partnership with the other member countries of the Asian-Pacific Postal Union, which recently congratulated him on his appointment as the new chairman of PHLPost.