MANILA – President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. announced on Tuesday that an estimated 130,000 balikbayan boxes will be returned to their rightful owners before Christmas.
During the inauguration of the new facilities at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 in Pasay City, Marcos said the Bureau of Customs (BOC) is now processing the immediate release of around 130 container vans with balikbayan boxes sent by overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) but left unattended for nearly a year.
“Ang nangyari rito ay nagpadala ang ating OFW ng balikbayan box, inuwi dito sa Pilipinas, ‘yung mga nagdala hindi naman binayaran ang mga dapat bayaran dito sa Pilipinas (What happened was that our OFWs sent balikbayan boxes to the Philippines, but the companies that shipped them failed to pay the necessary fees here in the country),” Marcos said.
“Kaya nandun nakatiwangwang lang ang mga balikbayan box for almost one year na nandun lang sa Bureau of Customs (As a result, the balikbayan boxes were left unattended at the Bureau of Customs for almost a year),” he added.
Marcos said the government would exhaust all efforts to facilitate the speedy distribution of the long-delayed balikbayan boxes to the rightful owners.
He noted that some of the boxes have already been delivered.
“Ngayon sinimulan na natin ang pagbibigay at pagbabalik dahil hindi naman pagmamay-ari ng pamahalan ‘yan, pagmamay-ari ‘yan ng ating OFW. Kaya starting today, ire-release na natin (Now, we have started returning and releasing them because these do not belong to the government—they belong to our OFWs. Starting today, we will begin their release),” Marcos said. (PNA)
