Untangling the ‘balikbayan’ box pileup at BOC

2026-03-05 - 21:53

MANILA, Philippines — On average, hundreds of thousands of “balikbayan boxes” enter the Philippines every year, carrying not just gifts, but the love and sacrifice from overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) to their families. Thousands of these boxes, however, have been abandoned, some sitting in warehouses for nearly three years. Their contents have been spoiled, damaged, or