The Philippine Postal Corporation (), abbreviated as PHLPost and also known as the Philippine Post Office, is a government-owned and controlled corporation responsible for providing postal services in the Philippines. The Philippine Postal Corporation has in excess of 8,000 employees and runs more than 1,355 post offices nationwide. The Philippine Post Office is based in the Philippines' primary post office, and is currently headed by Postmaster General and CEO Mr. Norman "Postman" N. Fulgencio. The historic Manila Central Post Office is situated at the Plaza Liwasang Bonifacio and overlooks the Pasig River. Its policy-making body is the board of directors, headed by its chairman, Mr. Raul R. Bendigo. The board of directors is composed of seven members, including the postmaster general, who serves simultaneously as the chief executive officer. Previously an attached agency of the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) and the Commission on Information and Communication Technology (CICT), the Philippine Postal Corporation is under the direct jurisdiction of the Office of the President of the Philippines. The Overseas Filipino Bank, previously the Philippine Postal Savings Bank, is one of three government-owned banks in the Philippines, it was formerly organized under PHLPost. Now, it is a separate company. History The Philippine postal system has a history spanning over 250 years. In 1767, the first post office in the Philippines was established in the city of Manila, which was later organized under a new postal district of Spain. At first, the postal office served mainly to courier government and church documents. In 1779, the postal district encompassed Manila and the entire Philippine archipelago. The postal district was reestablished on December 5, 1837. A year later, Manila became known as a leading center of postal services within Asia. Spain joined the Universal Postal Union in 1875, which was announced in the Philippines two years later. By then post offices were set up not only in Manila but in many major towns and cities in the provinces. During the Philippine Revolution, President Emilio Aguinaldo ordered the establishment of a postal service to provide postal services to Filipinos. It was later organized as a bureau under the Department of Trade on September 5, 1902, by virtue of Act No. 426, which was passed by the Philippine Commission. The Philippines eventually joined the Universal Postal Union, this time as a sovereign entity, on January 1, 1922. While the Manila Central Post Office building, the