BOC files 2nd batch of complaints vs. 5 balikbayan box cargo firms

Customs Commissioner Ariel Nepomuceno on Friday filed a complaint with the Department of Justice (DOJ) against five cargo forwarding firms over alleged fraudulent balikabyan box operations.

According to Nepomuceno, this is over the abandonment of 3,176 balikbayan boxes that were discovered in several ports nationwide.

“Meron silang dapat gampanan, hindi nila tinupad. Kapag nagpadala ka kasi at nagbayad doon sa mga forwarders, tawag dito consolidators, obligasyon ‘yan, kontrata ‘yan. So meron silang hindi tinupad sa kanilang kontrata,” he said.

(They had an obligation to fulfill, but they failed to do so. When you send a package and pay those forwarders, or what are called consolidators, that creates an obligation, a contract. So they failed to fulfill their contractual obligations.)

The BOC alleged violations of the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act (CMTA) and other applicable laws.

Nepomuceno said they collected nearly P20 million fees over the shipments.

“Eventually, may isasampa pa kaming kaso sa kanila… sasampahan namin ‘yan ng large-scale estafa,” he said.

(Eventually, we will file another case against them… we will charge them with large-scale estafa.)

The commissioner also bared that the companies blamed the BOC for the failed deliveries, noting that announcements on their websites stated that the balikbayan boxes were pending with the BOC.

“Ang dali kasi sisihin ng BOC dahil hindi alam ng ating mga kababayang OFWs. Syempre mga nagtra-trabaho ‘yan, kapag tinignan nila ‘yung website, para silang sumusuko na lang,” he said.

(Because it is easy to blame the BOC since our OFWs do not know the full situation. Of course, they are working abroad, and when they look at the website, they simply end up giving up.)

“Nakakaawa talaga sila. Kapag pinapakinggan niyo ‘yung kanilang mga kwento, ilang buwan nila iniipon itong mga boxes na ito. Hindi ito ‘yung overnight lang na nag shopping, ito ‘yung nag tatabi sila sa kanilang mga sweldo na hindi naman napakalaki,” he added.

(They are truly pitiful. When you listen to their stories, they spend months putting together these boxes. These are not items bought from an overnight shopping trip; these are things they set aside from their salaries, which are not even that large.)

The BOC appealed to port operators and agencies to waive the fees for abandoned boxes, according to Nepomuceno. He said that only 1,000 out of 42,000 abandoned balikbayan boxes have yet to be delivered.

This is the second filing of the BOC against cargo firms, with the first complaint filed in May against a registered freight forwarder over the abandonment of 36,000 balikbayan boxes. —VAL, GMA News