BOC releases nearly 2,000 unpaid, abandoned ‘balikbayan’ boxes

FILE PHOTO: Bureau of Customs Commissioner Yogi Filemon Ruiz inspects the growing number of “balikbayan” boxes at a warehouse in Sta. Ana, Manila, on Thursday, October 27, 2022, ordering their immediate delivery to their intended recipients. —MARIANNE BERMUDEZ

MANILA, Philippines — The Bureau of Customs (BOC) has released a total of 1,996 unpaid and abandoned “balikbayan” boxes that were meant to be forwarded to recipients since July.

Of the figure, 1,667 were delivered while consignees picked up 329 at designated warehouses, the BOC said in a statement Wednesday.

But 30 boxes remain with the BOC due to incomplete information, non-confirmation, or non-response from recipients or senders.

According to the BOC, delivered packages included 1,450 boxes out of 1,480 parcels consigned to CMG International Movers and Cargo Services.

“Ayon sa mga na-abandona na balikbayan boxes sa ngayon ay meron tayong tatlo na companies na na-identify, ito “yung All Win Cargo, Island Kabayan Express at CMG Movers,”   BOC spokesperson Arnaldo Dela Torre Jr. said in a separate public briefing on Wednesday.

(Based on the abandoned balikbayan boxes, we have identified three companies: All Win Cargo, Island Kabayan Express, and CMG Movers.)

The 329 boxes picked up by their respective recipients were part of the 1,154 balikbayan boxes consigned to Island Kabayan Express that the BOC processed

The remaining 825 of these boxes, the BOC said, were turned over to the Door-to-Door Consolidators Association of the Philippines for immediate delivery. To date, 217 of these parcels have been successfully delivered while 310 and 210 have been out for delivery and tagged for dispatch, respectively.

Moreover, the BOC said 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 (ABBC) in Bulacan province.

Several boxes were already distributed, the agency said, and it intends to deliver the remaining unclaimed packages, particularly those bound for Visayas and Mindanao, as soon as possible.

The BOC will also announce the pick-up schedule for claiming balikbayan boxes at the warehouse in Bulacan once the ABBC completes the inventory on November 9.

BOC spokesman Dela Torre said that while the BOC did not stop the release of the balikbayan boxes, it is not distributing the packages for now, pending an inventory by the winning shipping services.

The BOC then warned overseas Filipino workers to be aware of dubious freight forwarders that might exploit and victimize them.

It earlier vowed to deliver all abandoned balikbayan boxes before Christmas. –Alyssa Joy Quevedo, trainee

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