A consolidator handling overseas Filipino workers’ cargo now faces prosecution after customs authorities brought a criminal complaint to the Department of Justice on Friday, accusing the company of leaving 36,826 balikbayan boxes abandoned.
Named in the filing are Makati Express Cargo, Inc. (MECI) along with its officers and personnel deemed responsible. The Bureau of Customs argued they breached Republic Act No. 10863, the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act, together with the customs rules covering importer accreditation, third-party registration and the handling of consolidated balikbayan box shipments.
According to the bureau, the firm gave false material details when registering, withheld an honest accounting of the foreign consolidators it worked with, and kept taking in and processing shipments even after earlier cargoes were left abandoned and operational problems had surfaced.
In an ABS-CBN News report, BOC Commissioner Ariel Nepomuceno told affected families the government intends to recover not only through the legal cases but also the peso value of what the boxes contained. “Kasama doon sa hahabulin natin, bukod sa civil at criminal cases, iyong danyos, iyong amount noong laman ng mga boxes. Mapanagot natin ito, hopefully masingil sila, kasama iyon sa ating gagawin,” he said.
Leo Castillo, an OFW present when the complaint was lodged, voiced his thanks and his hope that the firm would answer criminally, noting his own cargo remained undelivered. He added that he had urged fellow workers and their relatives to stay patient now that deliveries were under way. “Actually kinukumbinsi ko rin sila na kung walang mangyayari sa bagahe natin pipilitin natin na makakuha tayo ng amount katumbas noong nawala nating bagahe,” Castillo said.
For Leandro Iriarte, another worker whose boxes were finally released after six years in Saudi Arabia, the contents carried weight beyond their material value. “Kasi alaala po lahat iyong nasa box, hindi po iyon basta pagkain, damit, o mga sapatos, ang nakalagay po doon is mga alaala po kasi anim na taon naming pinaghirapan ang mga box na iyon,” he said.
The commissioner placed the cost to the government at P30 million, and said 3,894 of the boxes and cargoes had still not reached their recipients.
