The Bureau of Customs (BOC) warned overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) to exercise caution in sending their balikbayan boxes to their families and relatives in the Philippines.
BOC spokesperson Arnaldo dela Torre, Jr. particularly mentioned CMG International Movers, Kabayan Island Express, and All Win over their failure to deliver thousands of balikbayan boxes that ended up piled up in BOC yards and whose ownership was transferred to the Association of Bidders at the Bureau of Customs (ABBC) after a bidding.
Fortunately, BOC commissioner Yogi Filemon Ruiz intervened by convincing the ABBC to deliver all the balikbayan boxes to their rightful owners.
"Our OFWs should be very careful in choosing the company that would deliver their balikbayan boxes. We do not want their hard-earned money that is sent to their relatives through balikbayan boxes to be wasted due to the failure of their chosen consignees to deliver," said dela Torre in a press briefing.
Based on the BOC data, there were around 8,000 undelivered balikbayan boxes at Portnet warehouse in Sta. Ana, Manila and at the Hobart warehouse in Balagtas, Bulacan.
They arrived at the Bureau of Customs on separate dates in 2021 and 2022 and were consigned to CMG International Movers, Kabayan Island Express, and All Win.
But they were left abandoned at the BOC warehouses and as a result, the containers were auctioned off by the Manila International Container Port between Sep. 2021 and Aug. 2022 and were awarded to ATLAS Brokerage and FR Agbay Enterprises. The containers of balikbayan boxes were released and turned over to them between June 2022 and October 2022.
Free pick-up, delivery
Dela Torre said the winning bidders yielded to the request of the BOC to have all the balikbayan boxes delivered for free and as of Nov. 8, a total of 1,996 unpaid and abandoned balikbayan boxes have been distributed by the Bureau of Customs (BOC) to recipients since July this year.
Of the figure, 1,667 of which were delivered while 329 boxes were picked up by consignees at designated warehouses.
The delivered packages included 1,450 boxes consigned to CMG International Movers and Cargo Services.
The 30 remaining boxes remain undelivered due to incomplete information, no confirmation or no response was received from recipients/senders.
"The BOC also processed 1,154 balikbayan boxes consigned to Island Kabayan Express, 329 of which were picked up by recipients at Portnet Logistics Warehouse in Sta. Ana, Manila," said dela Torre.
"Subsequently, the BOC endorsed the remaining 825 boxes to the Door-to-Door Consolidators Association of the Philippines (DDCAP) for immediate delivery," he added.
Dela Torre said a total of 217 parcels have been successfully delivered, 310 are out for delivery, and 210 are for dispatch.
Meanwhile, Dela Torre said the 16 containers with 4,625 balikbayan boxes consigned to Win Balikbayan Cargo LLC (All Win) are currently under the custody of the Association of Bidders at the Bureau of Customs (ABBC) at Hobart Warehouse in Balagtas, Bulacan.
"Several boxes were already distributed and picked up by consignees from the warehouse in Bulacan. The BOC intends to deliver the remaining unclaimed packages, particularly those bound for Visayas and Mindanao," he said.
Extended
Dela Torre said the BOC also extended the claiming of boxes at the Hobart Warehouse for another two weeks upon the request of consignees.
The pick-up schedule shall be announced once ABBC completes the inventory of the balikbayan boxes on Nov. 9.
During the meeting between BOC and ABBC on Monday, the BOC proposed the creation of a joint team that will develop a system for the efficient and speedy release and delivery of balikbayan boxes.
Legal action
Dela Torre urged the OFWs whose balikbayan boxes were not delivered to take action against the consignees.
He said that since the three consignees for instance are based abroad, the local laws do not apply to them for them to be held accountable.
The official said the OFWs should file complaints in their respective host countries.
On the part of the BOC, dela Torre said they are now coordinating with the Department of Migrant Workers and the Department of Trade and Industry to come up with measures to prevent the repeat of the incident.