[2] However, it was severely damaged in World War II during the Battle of Manila and was subsequently rebuilt in 1946 while retaining most of its original design.

The plans on completing the post office building was made public on November 28, 1927, but the awarding of the project happened a year after in 1928.

[5] The post office was severely damaged in World War II during the Battle of Manila, after it suffered heavy artillery bombardment and saw fierce room-to-room fighting between the Americans and Japanese, who converted the edifice into a fortress by heavily barricading the rooms with sandbags and barbed wires.

[6] The building was a key property for the Japanese as it was earthquake-proof and built with heavily reinforced concrete, making it impervious to direct artillery, tank, and anti-tank fire.

[7] On February 19-21, 1945, the post office was hit by artillery fire from the Americans as they bombarded it, and the assault set its interior ablaze.

[12] On May 21, a massive fire hit the Post Office late in the night and was declared under control more than seven hours after it erupted.

"[19] He also said letters, parcels and the postal agency's entire stamp collection were likely destroyed, but clarified that only the mail service in Manila was affected by the fire.

[25] Senator Robin Padilla and members of the House of Representatives Committee on Creative Industry and Performing Arts called for a legislative inquiry into the incident.

[28] The building was inspected by the Inter-Agency Task Force on Cultural Heritage on June 8 to assess the structure's integrity before restoration can begin.

First was that the Pasig River could be used conveniently as an easy route for delivering mail and secondly, the post office could be accessible from all sides including Quiapo, Binondo, Malate, and Ermita.

[35] The main body of the building is capped by a recessed rectangular attic storey and flanked and buttressed by two semi-circular wings.

Inside, the main lobby has subsidiary halls at each end housed under the semi-circular spaces roofed with domes.

[11] The building and its surroundings were a popular location for the shooting of local films and television serials, such as: The building was also subjected to a paranormal investigation in the 2021 Halloween special of the news magazine program Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho, having been claimed by employees to be haunted by ghosts and poltergeists, some of which were believed to be that of Japanese soldiers from the Second World War.