Modern communication technologies such as text-messaging and e-mail are threatening to push the post office out of business.

Warning that the country’s post office is slowly sliding into oblivion, a lawmaker has urged the state-owned Philippine Postal Corp. (Philpost) to go into the remittance trade and install Internet cafés in order to stay competitive and relevant.

Catanduanes Rep. Joseph Santiago, in a media statement, said modern communication technologies such as text-messaging and e-mail is threatening to push the post office out of business.

“Advanced communication technologies have already killed the telegraph business. If Philpost wants to keep on making money and stay fully functional, it should play a part in new emerging markets,” said Santiago, former chief of National Telecommunications Commission.

Santiago noted that Philpost’s mail service, both for domestic and foreign parcels, is also getting competition from privately run express courier firms.

Philpost can still reinvent itself in the lucrative remittance trade because of its existing “money order” service, according to Santiago. He said Filipinos in the countryside as well as those without bank accounts still patronize money orders.

“The remittance market is large and still rapidly growing. Even a small bite would be huge. If Philpost can offer low-priced remittance services, it can easily build market share,” Santiago added.

He said the same is true with Internet shops. “The potential market is there because many Filipinos still do not own personal computers and/or have limited Internet access at home or in the office,” he said.

Philpost currently has more than 2,000 post offices, distribution hubs and mailing outlets countrywide. It has over 18,000 employees and 2,500 delivery vans and motorcycles.