Manila Central Post Office

Manila Central Post Office
The Manila Central Post Office
General information
Architectural style	Neoclassical
Address	Liwasang Bonifacio, Manila 1000
Owner	Government of the Philippines
Design and construction
Architect	Juan M. Arellano , Tomás B. Mapúa
Civil engineer	Pedro Siochi y Angeles (1886-1951) who is a native of Malabon, Rizal and graduated with a degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Ghent, Belgium
Main contractor	the Pedro Siochi and Company

The Manila Central Post Office is the central post office of the city of Manila, Philippines. It is the head office of the Philippine Postal Corporation, and houses the country's main mail sorting-distribution operations.

Designed by Juan M. Arellano and Tomás Mapúa, the post office building was built in neoclassical architecture in 1926. It was severely damaged in World War II, and rebuilt in 1946 preserving most of its original design.

The location of the Post Office building in the Ermita district of the city east of Intramuros, was part of the plan of Daniel Burnham for the city of Manila, which placed the building on the frontage of the Pasig River for easy water transportation of mails. Its central location with converging avenues made the building readily accessible from all sides. The building's main entrance faces the Liwasang Bonifacio.

The construction of this building started in 1936 under the supervision of the engineering firm Pedro Siochi and Company. It was finished before the outbreak of war in 1941.

This official transmitter of mail, money and goods traces its beginnings to Act No. 462 of the Philippine Commission on September 15, 1902, creating the Bureau of Posts. Postal service in the country, albeit crude and slow, began during the Spanish period with horse-riding couriers till it reached the marked improvements which the Americans initiated. The present building which houses the bureau hums daily with brisk postal service.

Now under the Ministry of Public Works, Transportation and Communication, the Bureau of Posts, now houses a modern and efficient look with its mechanized automatic letter-sorting machine, new Postal Code, Metropolitan Airmail Network, motorized letter carriers and all other new facilities.