3,000 balikbayan boxes of 40,000 backlog left to be delivered —BOC

There are now over 3,000 balikbayan boxes up for delivery left out of more than 40,000 boxes that had piled up undelivered, the Bureau of Customs (BOC) said on Tuesday.

“Of the 40,000 na mahigit na parte ng original na reklamo, ay nasa lagpas 3,000 na lamang po ang natitira for delivery ng ating mga OFWs,” said BOC deputy chief-of-staff Chris Noel Bendijo in “Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon.”

(Of the more than 40,000 [boxes] that were part of the original complaint, only over 3,000 are left for delivery to our OFWs [Overseas Filipino Workers].)

The BOC added that the balikbayan boxes that are soon to be delivered are at the Manila International Container Terminal (MICT).

“Of the 40,000 mahigit na balikbayan boxes, nakapag-deliver na tayo, zero backlog na tayo sa Port of Cebu, Port of Davao, sa Clark, ang natitira na lang po ay sa MICT, may mahigit 3,000 boxes na lang po ito…Patuloy pa rin ang pagde-deliver sa mga natitirang mga kahon,” said Bendijo.

(Of the more than 40,000 balikbayan boxes, we have already made deliveries, we now have a zero backlog at the Port of Cebu, Port of Davao, and Clark. The only ones left are at the MICT, which is just over 3,000 boxes... The delivery of the remaining boxes is still ongoing.)

The BOC earlier filed a complaint with the Department of Justice (DOJ) against a registered freight forwarder over the abandonment of thousands of balikbayan boxes.

The bureau said the complaint alleged that Makati Express Cargo Inc. (MECI) violated Section 1430 and 1403 of the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act (CMTA), in relation to Sections 1226 and 800, as well as the applicable customs regulations governing third-party registration, importer accreditation, and consolidated balikbayan shipments.

The BOC said the complaint stemmed from the firm’s alleged failure to process, claim, and facilitate the balikbayan boxes that arrived at the Manila International Container Port (MICP), the Port of Cebu, and the Port of Davao from 2024 to 2025. — BM, GMA News