In the mid 70’s, Filipinos started working overseas going to the Middle East countries and North America. Filipinos overseas started sending their balikbayan boxes by air through international couriers like DHL and the likes.

Filipino entrepreneurs saw the opportunity and started putting up their courier services. This was formalized with a Presidential Decree by then Pres. Ferdinand Marcos in the early 80’s.

Air cargo then from Los Angeles, CA cost around $30 per pound. Ocean cargo or balikbayan box cost seventy dollars per standard balikbayan box.

Gasoline then was less than a dollar per gallon. Now gasoline costs more than two dollars a gallon and air cargo to Manila costs $3.99 per pound and some balikbayan box companies charge as low as fifty dollars per standard balikbayan box.

What went wrong?

In Los Angeles alone, it started with four companies in 1985. This companies all charge a uniform rate of seventy dollars per box to Metro-Manila.

Now, there are less than ten licensed balikbayan box companies and about thirty unlicensed ones operating in Southern California.

And the prices of shipping balikbayan boxes have dropped.

Is it good or bad?

Competition is always good for the consumer. It allows them to choose among competing companies. Each consumer have their own unique criterion and each companies have their own unique niche.

Majority of consumers still prefer reliability and security of their shipments. It is followed closely by the pricing. Then, customer support and interpersonal company-client relationship.

Some consumers are easily enticed by low price offers. Some are smart enough to ask around first and they realize if they are being taken for a ride by some unscrupulous individuals.

Unrealistic shipping charges are abound in the Southern California area since there is a big balikbayan box market here. A couple of years ago, a prominent businessman in the area put up a balikbayan box company to complement his travel agency.

He charged fourty five dollars per balikbayan box to anywhere in the Philippines. Too good to be true? Yes. But there were takers.

The businessman co-loaded his boxes to other balikbayan box companies on credit. The first few boxes were delivered. Soon enough, he was able to fill up two container loads of balikbayan boxes.
The businessman disappeard together with the two containers that ended up in various ukay-ukay stores all over the Philippines.

Now, this scheme of lowering down the price to entice balikbayan box customers have transcend to other states like New York, Ohio, Chicago, and Florida.

The worst hit was Canada. Filipinos in Canada have learned their lessons the hard way. Fifteen balikbayan box containers were undelivered and abandoned by the cargo company! They paid for the shipping charges and their shipment was left to rot at the Philippine Bureau of Customs yard!

The box never arrived.

The Department of Trade and Industry has observed an increasing number of missing balikbayan boxes, which accounted for about one-third of shipping and freight-related complaints the Philippine Shippers Bureau received from 2001 to 2003.

Based on official figures from the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration, around 900,000 Filipinos work abroad as of end-2003, both in sea-based and land-based occupations. Add to this figure those who have permanently migrated and you now have an idea how many overseas Filipinos might be sending balikbayan boxes home on a regular basis.

Balikbayan boxes often contain an unusual collection of things -- from iodized salt to appliances, dolls to corned beef, laundry soap to socks. In a country where even far-flung villages have one or two individuals working or living abroad, sending home even the simplest things that might be delightful for family members has become a custom.

However, unscrupulous freight forwarders have put the fruits of Filipinos' labor at risk. "Given the heavy traffic of packages sent from abroad by Overseas Filipino Workers, people should be careful in choosing their cargo agency and/or freight forwarders," former Trade secretary Mar Roxas said in a letter to Philippine embassies last December.

Uniglobe, the freight forwarder who failed to deliver her package, has stopped operating in July 2003 but continued to accept cargoes until December of the same year. Its warehouses in Toronto and in Sta. Mesa Manila had been closed, even as it continued to make empty promises to customers and other Toronto residents that the packages would be delivered. Eventually, its phone lines were no longer reachable.

PSB said there had been several cases in 2003 when freight forwarders abandoned their cargo at the Bureau of Customs "for financial reasons." Several cases also involved theft of some of the contents.

It would be time-consuming and tedious to check and double-check the profile of freight forwarders and make sure they are accredited by the government, but doing that would save a lot of money.

Here are some more tips from the PSB:

1. Don't just check the profile of the firm; make sure you double-check its Philippine counterpart.

2. Call PSB's Quick Response Unit at (02) 8905133 or go to the DTI website at dti.gov.ph to get an updated copy of the list of accredited freight forwarders/cargo handlers if the cargo is via sea freight. If via airfreight, check with the Civil Aeronautics Board.

3. Ask for transport documents such as Bill of Lading/House Bill of Lading in addition to the receipt for charges you paid.

4. Prepare and submit a packing list of items to be shipped with its declared value.

5. Ask for the company’s Federal Maritime Commission License.

6. Monitor the movement of your cargo from origin to final destination by constant communication with the forwarding company. Ask the forwarder to furnish you the shipping line, voyage number, container number, the estimated time of departure/arrival and delivery of your cargo.

7. Find out if the freight forwarder has adequate insurance coverage, ask for a copy of the certificate of insurance if in doubt.

8. Tell those who will receive the package to check the package with the Philippine agent even before the estimated date of delivery.

The victims are not taking this standing down. They have asked the Bureau of Customs and emailed the office of Executive Secretary Roberto Romulo in the hope that the government would help them retrieve their boxes.

However, a whole community of Toronto residents -- some with boxes full of wedding pictures, memorabilia and all the things they wanted to bring home when they retire -- are still waiting for some hope that their precious belongings would be returned, and the perpetrators punished so that they could no longer victimize others.

As with every scam, people should arm themselves with information and watchfulness against unscrupulous firms. But more importantly, they also need government to run after those that put the fruits of their labor at risk.

Is going to the cheap alternative a smart choice? Caveat Emptor. Buyers Beware.