BOC sues cargo forwarder over balikbayan boxes

MANILA, Philippines — The Bureau of Customs (BOC) has filed a complaint against a cargo forwarder for abandoning 36,826 balikbayan boxes sent by overseas Filipino workers to their families.

In a statement, the BOC said it charged the Makati Express Cargo Inc. (MECI) and its officers for the “repeated failure to process, claim and facilitate the release of consolidated balikbayan box shipments” that arrived at the Manila International Container Port and the ports of Cebu and Davao from 2024 to 2025.

It added that BOC records show that 117 40-foot shipping containers with 36,826 balikbayan boxes were “left unclaimed and subsequently declared impliedly abandoned in favor of the government pursuant to the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act and applicable customs regulations.”

The complaints against MECI were filed before the Department of Justice.

According to the BOC, the MECI registration with the bureau was revoked in January. However, the firm allegedly continued its shipment activities.

The BOC suspects that MECI could have been registered abroad under a different business name.

“The company misrepresented material information in its registration records, failed to truthfully disclose its foreign consolidators, and continued accepting or processing balikbayan box shipments despite prior abandoned cargoes and operational deficiencies,” a part of complaint read.

BOC Commissioner Ariel Nepomuceno said the government could have collected as much as P30 million in taxes, had the balikbayan boxes been claimed by their recipients.

He warned that MECI might face other charges, such as those relating to large-scale estafa and cybercrime.

Nepomuceno said the BOC is also going after 11 cargo forwarding companies for allegedly committing crimes similar to MECI.