Page 17 - Hello Philippines January 2016 'A' Issue

January 2016 – No. 01 • UK & Europe Edition
PILFERAGE, DELAYS, MISHANDLING
The horrors of sending balikbayan boxes, according to OFWs
FEWER overseas Filipinos sent
balikbayan boxes to their loved
ones in the Philippines this year
compared to last, according to data
obtained by GMA News Online from
some ports and freight forwarders.
While officials would not surmise
on the possible cause of the drop,
OFWs contacted by GMA News
Online have pointed to the usual
problems on pilferage, delays in the
delivery, and mishandling of the
boxes as reasons.
Rodolfo Alba, 46, a safety officer
in Al Ain Feed Mill in the United
Arab Emirates, recalled how his
pasalubong for his mother went
missing when he arrived in the
Philippines last May for a visit.
“Pagdating sa conveyor para
kunin na ang mga bagahe, I braced
myself para sa isang luggage kung
saan nakalagay ang mga paborito
ng nanay [ko],” he shared via email.
“Kaso, nung akin nang kunin
ay halos mabuwal ako sa gaan ng
maleta. Nang suriin ko ang ginawa
kong seal ay wala na ito. Wala na rin
ang mga bagay na dapat sana ay kay
nanay,” he said, adding the missing
items included shampoo, lotion and
bath soaps.
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Rodolfo said it was the first time observed in the months leading
he experienced such in his nine
years of being an OFW in UAE.
Japan-based Terrence Changcoco,
meanwhile, remembered how the
second-hand CDs he sent to his
brother in the Philippines arrived
late and with broken jewel cases.
“Yung iba, CD mismo ‘yung
wasak,” he said. “Hindi na nga
iningatan, sobrang delayed pa.”
Others, meanwhile, cited
financial problems as reason why
they did not send balikbayan boxes
this year, while others said they
didn’t see the point of sending
imported items to their families at
home anymore.
“Early ‘80s, tatay ko OFW sa
Dubai, he would send us boxes of
Toblerone, imported corned beef,
ganun. Masaya na kami nun,” said
Pen de Villa, who until September
this year was working as a layout
artist in New York.
“Ngayon, you want Toblerone?
Go to 7-Eleven. You want imported
corned beef, canned goods? Go to
Shopwise,” he said.
The drop in the number of
balikbayan boxes sent to the
Philippines was particularly
0207 132 0015or for more info please call our customer service on
IMMIGRATION / OFNEWS www.hello-philippines.com 17
to the Christmas season, when It said Port of Manila logged In September, the BOC revised
40 percent of the estimated 4.8 2,031 boxes in August and 3,506 its rules and regulations, banning
million balikbayan boxes sent to the in September, while Manila Customs personnel from opening
Philippines every year arrive. International Container Port, where and inspecting boxes. The new
most of the balikbayan boxes arrive, memorandum order states that
At the Port of Clark, 1,340 boxes, recorded 1,034 shipping containers boxes have to undergo mandatory
each weighing at least 30 kg, arrived in September, 864 in October, and x-ray scanning, and only those
in October this year, nearly 4,000 955 in November. tagged as “suspect” will be opened
less than the 5,064 recorded in the in the presence of representatives
same month last year. “I would say there’s no marked from the Overseas Workers Welfare
decrease in the number of containers Administration. n Rie Takumi and Lucky
It had nearly the same difference that we received for balikbayan
for November, when the number boxes,” BOC Deputy Commissioner Mae F. Quilao / KBK, GMA News / Published /
dipped to 3,423 for 2015 from 7,963 Arturo Lachica had earlier said.
in 2014. For December, Port of Clark December 18, 2015 / 7:11pm
received 2,381 in 2015 compared to
4,651 in 2014.
Freight forwarder Atlas Shippers
International Inc. also registered a
drop in 2015.
“As per our records from
November 2014 compared to
November 2015 our business
dropped by 10%,” an operations
manager told GMA News Online by
phone.
For its part, the Bureau of
Customs — which had to abort its
plan to manually inspect balikbayan
boxes after OFWs voiced their
strong opposition to it — said not
all ports reported fewer balikbayan
boxes arriving from abroad.
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