The Manila Central Post Office, a.k.a Post Office Building, a.k.a. PhilPost headquarters, met a tragic fate on Monday, after a raging fire that started at midnight consumed most of the colonial period building.

Built in 1929 as part of American Daniel Burnham's city planning of the capital Manila, the post office building is most strategic in location because of its accessibility to the river and the middle of dissecting roads in and out of the city.

Construction of the building started in 1926 but it was not completed until 1928. The building was completely destroyed during World War II. It was renovated after the war, and stood tall for more than 70 years.

• Fire guts Manila Central Post Office

It was in those years of service that the Philippine postal system, despite all its shortcomings, became the lifeline of Filipinos, especially when they started queuing for abroad to be migrants and OFWs (Overseas Filipino Workers). It was through the postal system that Filipinos abroad sent everything, from mail to parcels that would later become part of the Philippine lore abroad in the form of the ubiquitous "Balikbayan boxes."

Technology eventually supplanted the "snail mail," with the electronic mail becoming the choice for communication worldwide. When ordering abroad through online shopping slowly crept in on the market of balikbayan boxes, not a few predicted the eventual demise of the brick and mortar mailing system.

But despite all these challenges the postal system, and with it the central post office, tried to find its relevance.

The fire that consumed almost 100% of the central post office will no doubt add further to the challenges as the national historical landmark tries to find the attention, and the funding, needed to restore it to its old grandeur.