Thousands of Balikbayan Boxes Left Unclaimed as BOC Exposes Shipping Mess
BALIKBAYAN BOXES – A shipment problem has left thousands of balikbayan boxes stranded, prompting the Bureau of Customs to take action against companies that allegedly failed to handle the deliveries.
The Bureau of Customs (BOC) has uncovered 29 abandoned shipping containers carrying at least 10,000 balikbayan boxes in different ports across the country, raising concerns about shipments intended for overseas Filipino workers’ (OFWs) families.
Chris Bendijo, deputy chief of staff of the Office of the Commissioner, revealed that some of the containers had arrived as early as May. The shipments reportedly remained unclaimed after the Philippine companies responsible for handling them faced charges before the Department of Justice (DOJ) and ceased operations.
“Based on the inspection of ports we have 29 abandoned containers. These contained 10,000 balikbayan boxes,” Bendijo told radio dzBB.
He explained that three companies involved in the shipments had already been charged and blacklisted. However, their overseas partners may still be accepting packages from OFWs, unaware that their Philippine counterparts are no longer operational.
“We really need to strengthen our information dissemination because, based on the list, we have already charged and blacklisted three of the involved companies. Maybe their counterparts overseas continue to receive the balikbayan boxes,” Bendijo said, noting that the BOC has no control over the companies’ counterparts abroad.
“If their counterparts abroad still receive balikbayan boxes from our OFWs, the shipment gets abandoned at the ports because their Philippine counterparts were charged and are no longer operating,” he added.
To address the situation, the BOC has signed a deed of donation with concerned government agencies, including the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW). The arrangement is intended to facilitate the distribution of the abandoned packages to their rightful recipients.
“The power of the BOC is limited in terms of abandoned balikbayan boxes. That is why we need to go through the process of donation. We will endorse the balikbayan boxes to the DMW and then they will be the ones to send these to the relatives of the OFWs,” Bendijo said.
Meanwhile, the bureau is preparing an administrative order that would require shipment consolidators to secure accreditation before they can operate. The proposed measure also includes a bond requirement to provide funds for outstanding obligations if similar incidents occur.
“The consolidators need to post a bond. The amount will be used as a fund to pay for obligations, in case something like this happens again. We will be able to deliver the balikbayan boxes to our citizens without any delay,” Bendijo said.
The proposal also seeks to discourage fly-by-night operators. Bendijo said the BOC is considering a minimum bond of P2 million for freight forwarders, with the amount increasing depending on the number of their overseas counterparts.
“We are seeing a minimum bond of P2 million for our forwarders. This will have an incremental increase based on the number of their counterparts overseas,” he said.
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