THE Bureau of Customs (BoC) on Thursday said it handed over nearly 3,000 abandoned balikbayan boxes to the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) for distribution to respective owners.
In a statement on Thursday, Customs said it turned over 2,954 balikbayan boxes to the DMW in a ceremonial event held on May 29 in Davao City.
“These boxes, originally sent by Overseas Filipino Workers to their loved ones, were left unclaimed after being mishandled and abandoned by unscrupulous freight forwarders at the Port of Davao,” the BoC said.
The approval of the Department of Finance, the BoC declared the boxes forfeited and officially donated them to the DMW through a signed Deed of Donation.
In a separate statement on Thursday, Customs said it examined two 20-foot container vans from Thailand containing 1,000 sacks of refined sugar in its first operation on May 23.
Another shipment examined by BoC found two abandoned 20-foot containers at Warehouse 3 in Port of Manila. They found 1,040 bags labeled “sweet mixed powder.”
Both shipment of sugar are valued at approximately P9 million, the agency said.
During the same inspection activity, the team also assessed a 40-foot container misdeclared as fabric, which was found to contain 1,046 boxes or 52,300 reams of illicit cigarettes with an estimated value of P81.065 million. — Aubrey Rose A. Inosante
