Rotten postal service

My daughter received a registry notice for a package to be claimed at the Parañaque Central Post Office. She said it must be the T-shirt with gospel message promised by her landlord who loves to make such giveaways to his former tenants in the United States.

Upon claiming the item at the Parañaque Central Post Office, my daughter was asked to pay a postal fee of P112. At the claim window, there was a notice that said all packages shall be opened in front of the retriever to assess applicable customs fees. When my daughter’s package was opened, indeed it was the plain, inexpensive T-shirt with the words “God—Everything” printed on it.

The lady from the Bureau of Customs assessed a total tax of P490 which she said is based on the $15-declared value of the T-shirt and the $13-postage fee. Total expense to retrieve the item would have been P602. My daughter decided not to get the T-shirt as she could not accept in principle the idea that the delivery cost paid for by the sender should also be taxed.

In light of the recent ruling that a package with less than P10,000-value will no longer be taxed, can my daughter still retrieve the T-shirt? The registry notice was taken by the postal personnel last Oct. 18, so she no longer has proof of ownership. Given this, where do unclaimed packages end up?

In a separate incident, the Tagaytay Medical Center sent me a Notice of Stockholders Meeting with envelope stamped Aug. 12 by the Tagaytay City Post Office. The Parañaque Central Post Office received it on Aug. 16 and delivered it to my Parañaque residence, which is less than 12 kilometers away from the post office, on Sept. 27, a gap of 42 days. The meeting was on Aug. 19. Needless to say, I missed the meeting. And to think that the sender paid P28 and the envelope had a domestic registered stamp on it.  If this is not rotten postal service, what is?

LORIE TOLEDO, loriegtoledo@gmail.com