Safe balikbayan box deal inked

MANILA, Philippines — With over six million non-resident Filipinos abroad expected to send balikbayan boxes during the holidays, a deal to protect their shipment has been signed by the Bureau of Customs and the Commission on Filipinos Overseas.

The BOC and CFO have partnered to aid Filipinos in avoiding unscrupulous as well as blacklisted freight forwarding firms and deconsolidators.

“When it comes to balikbayan boxes, these will be given special treatment and we will not allow these to stay for more than one month, otherwise they would be considered abandoned,” Customs Commissioner Ariel Nepomuceno said.

Special lanes and help desks for overseas Filipino workers have been installed at ports, Nepomuceno said.

Advisories on trustworthy firms will be released, CFO chairman Dante Francis Ang II said.

Clearer referral procedures will be created by the BOC and CFO to resolve missing, delayed, damaged and tampered balikbayan boxes.

A joint technical working group will develop guidelines to aid in the implementation of the agreement.

In 2025, the BOC resolved the issue of 42,000 balikbayan boxes that had been abandoned for three years.