Thousands of balikbayan boxes abandoned at BOC

Thousands of balikbayan boxes from the Middle East have been abandoned by foreign courier services at the Bureau of Customs (BOC), with the BOC and local delivery services working to get them to their intended recipients. advertisement In JP Soriano’s “24 Oras” report on Thursday, Jasmine Velarde Espeleta, an Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) in Abu Dhabi, said she used a new delivery business in Abu Dhabi to send her packages to her family in Leyte. Espeleta said the company promised to deliver the packages in two months. However, they ended up abandoned at the BOC. She said the company also did not pay for the processing at Customs and delivery of the packages once they arrived in the Philippines. “Matagal ka mag-ipon, pinaghirapan mong ipunan. Pagod, puyat, pawis mo. Kasi kailangan mong humanap ng pera bago ka makabili non,” she added. Both the BOC and the Door-to-Door Consolidators Association of the Philippines have begun delivering the boxes to their intended recipients, despite not having received payment for the service. Out of 26 container vans, each with 300 abandoned balikbayan boxes, seven have already had their contents delivered. The packages in three more container vans are set to be processed and delivered, while the process for the rest will begin on September 30. "Dahil hindi po nila pinrocess, wala kaming pagbabasehan, walang packing list na pagbabasehan," said Michael Fermin, director of the BOC Administrative Office. "Kaya kailangan namin i-actual, pagka-strip po nito, isa-isa po namin ito ie-encode yung mga pangalan ng mga boxes na ‘yan, tatawagan po namin 'yung mga may-ari, informing them [na] pwede nilang pick-upin." The BOC said they have also coordinated with the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) to file charges against the delivery services in question. “Huwag po silang magpadala sa mga pangako ng mababang collection fees pero hindi naman po makakarating,” Fermin said. Those OFWs whose balikbayan boxes were abandoned in BOC may inquire and message the agency’s hotline at (02) 87056000. — Richa Noriega/BM, GMA News

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