CEBU CITY- Eleven erring deconsolidators will be charged by the Bureau of Customs (BoC) for their failure to deliver the OFW balikbayan boxes that have arrived since last year in the country because the same were abandoned in the BoC for their failure to settle their fees including its customs duties and taxes.
“Labing isang kumpanya ito. By Friday or Tuesday next week, idi-demanda na namin sila,” BoC Commissioner Ariel Nepomuceno told the Cebu media last Tuesday during the symbolic turn over of the remaining balikbayan boxes to the families of Cebuano OFW’s held inside the Cebu Port Authority (CPA) sports complex here.
Nepomuceno revealed the erring deconsolidators and their consolidators abroad were paid at least P330 million by the OFW’s who were victimized thus criminal charges of “large scale estafa” and violation of cyber crime laws are being readied against the group.
Nepomuceno got wind of the abandoned balikbayan boxes before the Christmas season last year prompting him to report the matter to the Department of Finance which also reached the attention of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, Jr. who acted with dispatch by instructing the BoC to waive the unsettled fees and altogether release the items.
Finance Secretary Frederick Go for his part added that the Office of the President will shoulder all the expense that will be incurred to deliver the balikbayan boxes to its recepients – “door to door.”
“Noong sinabi ni Commissioner Nepomuceno itong problema sa akin at sinabi niyang ang problema ay kailangan natin ng pondo para ipadala ang mga boxes na ito, over fifty thousand boxes sa ating mga kababayan, sinagot ko na. Sabi ko gagawan natin ng paraan, buti na lang nang pinaabot ko sa ating Pangulo ang problema agad niyang inaprobahan ang door to door delivery ng mga balikbayan boxes ng walang kahit anong dagdag gastos sa mga tao. Buti na lang sinagot ng ating napakabait na Pangulo,” Go said in brief impromptu speech.
Asked whether there are Cebu based firms that were included in the mess, Port of Cebu Collector Alexandra Yap Lumontad clarified all were Luzon based and not a single local company is involved.
“They were mostly from Makati and Manila, no one from Cebu,” Lumontad told Newstar Philippines in Cebuano.
In Cebu alone, at least 14, 000 OFW balikbayan boxes were abandoned but only 400 were left undelivered during the arrival of Nepomuceno and Go but within the week, all will already be delivered.
The bulk of the abandoned boxes were in the Manila International Container Port (MICP), the rest are in the Port of Manila, Subic and Davao, all of which were already received by its recepients.
BoC Director Venus Emperado who also accompanied Nepomuceno said that the BoC has already implemented ways to prevent the occurence of the same incident, even as she also reminded the OFW’s to transact only with consolidators with proven track record.
The BoC has just created the Balikbayan Box Help Desk and is drafting a Customs Administrative Order (CAO) to impose tighten regulations on freight forwarders, among them is to require the posting of at least P2, 000, 000.00 cash bond to ensure financial capacity and accountability.
To deliver the local balikbayan boxes, the Port of Cebu has tapped the assistance of Alin Cargo through its President/CEO Israel Alin and logistics forwarder Leslie Lim of L98 Brokerage and Logistics.
According to BoC Commissioner Nepomuceno, all the 11 deconsolidators among them, Makati Express Cargo Inc. (MECI), has already been “suspended” and will be automatically “black listed” by the bureau once the criminal cases will be filed with the assistance of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI)./CCO
(L-R L98 logistics executive Leslie Lim; BoC Director Venus Emperado; BoC Commissioner Ariel Nepomuceno; a Cebu recepient of the abandoned OFW balikbayan box; Port of Cehu Collector of Customs Alexandra Yap Lumontad and Finance Secretary Frederick Go/Newstar Philippines photo)
(Cebu District Collector of Customs Alexandra Yap Lumontad interacted with the families of Cebuano OFW’s who recently received their long delayed balikbayan boxes/Newstar Philippines photo)
