Thousands of balikbayan boxes left idle at a Manila port are expected to reach the families of overseas Filipino workers after customs authorities moved to clear more than a hundred container vans in the coming days.
The Bureau of Customs said the packages—some sitting at the Manila International Container Port for months and others for over two years—will be turned over to forwarders once the containers are released, with delivery projected to take about two months depending on logistics capacity.
“Hopefully within 60 days, but we are not sure how fast our forwarders (can do it). What is important is we will release these containers in the next few days,” Customs Commissioner Ariel Nepomuceno said during an inspection of the shipments on Friday.
The boxes largely contain food items and personal belongings sent by overseas workers to their families, according to customs officials who examined the cargo alongside the National Bureau of Investigation.
Customs said it is coordinating with the Department of Migrant Workers to facilitate the handover of the container vans to accredited forwarders for distribution nationwide.
The bureau advised the public to monitor updates through its dedicated OFW portal at https://customs.gov.ph/home/overseas-filipino-worker-ofw/.
Funding for the door-to-door delivery of the abandoned shipments was earlier approved by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.
