The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) has confirmed that some national identification cards (IDs) were among the items affected by the devastating fire that engulfed the Manila Central Post Office in Lawton, Manila on Monday morning.
Citing information from the Philippine Postal Corporation (PHLPost), National Statistician and Civil Registrar General Dennis Mapa said only the national IDs, that were supposed to be out for delivery, were affected.
"The PSA is working with the PHLPost to determine the number of PhilIDs affected," he said in a statement.
Mapa clarified that those national IDs finished sorted and stored at the PHLPost Central Mail Exchange Center (CMEC) in Pasay City were not affected.
Apart from the national IDs, Postmaster General Luis Carlos earlier confirmed that letters, parcels, and other documents stored inside the building were burned. But Carlos assured the Manila Central Office has digital copies or backups of the burned documents.
Based on the initial report from the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP), the fire started at 11:30 pm on Sunday, May 21 and it reached General Alarm, the highest alarm level.
After eight hours, the fire was declared under control at about 7:22 am on Monday.
BFP said that the fire suspected came from the building's basement.
