By Sammy F. Martin
MANILA, Aug. 24 (PNA) — House Independent Bloc leader and Leyte Rep. Ferdinand Martin Romualdez urged Bureau of Customs Commissioner Alberto Lina on Monday to show compassion and not to “squeeze” more money from overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) by dropping his plan to impose more stringent inspection on their balikbayan boxes.
Romualdez said the proposal for BOC personnel to open balikbayan boxes on suspicion that these are being used as a smuggling channel will only overburden OFWs and could be a source of another corruption in the graft-ridden agency, explaining packages contain “gifts and love from OFWs for their loved ones.”
“I appeal for compassion, ipakita natin ang malasakit sa ating OFWs. Why clamp down on their balikbayan boxes when this would only overburden them? The inspection is counter-productive because this would worsen the already congested port,” said Romualdez.
“Balikbayan boxes have special meaning to OFWs and their relatives here in the country because these represent compassion, love and product of their hard work. These are gifts and not contrabands. Let’s not squeeze more money from them because their billions of pesos worth of remittances have been helping to pump-prime our economy. The BOC should focus on big-time smugglers,” he added.
Quezon City Rep. Winston Castelo, chairman of the House Committee on Metro Manila Development, said the BOC should seek first authorization from Congress before imposing additional taxes.
Specifically citing Section 24, Article 6 of the 1987 Philippine Constitution, Castelo said “all appropriations, revenue or tariff bills, shall originate exclusively in the House of Representatives, but the Senate may propose or concur with amendments.”
“In the first place, Balikbayan boxes are duty- and tax-free packages designed for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) sending home gifts to their families,” Castelo said. “For the most part, what’s inside the box are household items and goods that are generally exempt from duties.”
“This small favor is negligible compared to the great sacrifices and contributions that our OFWs make that also benefit our national economy,” Castelo stressed. “The Bureau of Customs should first answer to the Filipino nation on the Canadian trash sent here that caused us serious international humiliation.”
Lina said he would implement more stringent rules on consolidators of balikbayan boxes granted duty-free status as long as their contents do not exceed USD 500 in value.
The BOC said it has estimated an average of 1,000 containers of balikbayan boxes (400 boxes per container) arrive each month in Philippine ports.
It said that the government was losing PhP50 million a month or PhP600 million a year. (PNA)