Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto is calling for the immediate “activation and convening” of a joint Senate-Lower House oversight committee to review the implementation of the law on balikbayan (personal effects of overseas Filipino workers) box shipments amid mounting complaints against “unreasonable” documentary requirements, particularly the need to list the shipment’s contents.
Recto in a statement said the Congressional Customs and Tariff Oversight Committee is mandated to monitor the proper implementation of Republic Act No. 10863, or the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act (CMTA). The senator filed the bill on balikbayan boxes that was later included in the Senate version of the CMTA bill.
Listing opens a loop?
Recto issued the call after the Bureau of Customs (BOC), which implements the CMTA, issued new rules that require qualified Filipinos while abroad (QFWA) who are sending home balikbayan boxes to include a detailed list of contents, and the receipts of brand-new goods.
The legislator said he shares “the apprehension of many OFWs that attaching a list of contents is tantamount to providing a keyhole that might tempt unscrupulous handlers to open [the shipment] and rid it of its contents.”
While he said he recognizes the right of BOC to impose rules to prevent abuse by smugglers of the duty-free balikbayan box privileges, the rules must, however, be designed so as not to inconvenience the greater number of overseas Filipino.
Recto said it will be the duty of the oversight committee to find out if BOC, through Customs Memorandum Order No. 04-2017 which implements Sec. 800 (g) of RA 10863, “committed a bureaucratic overreach.”
READ: BOC introduces easy-to-follow info sheet for OFWs sending balikbayan boxes
Purpose of new rules
Customs Commissioner Nicanor Faeldon earlier denied that accomplishing the information sheet, a new requirement under the new rules, will cause delay, commenting that listing the contents of the balikbayan box will not take more than an hour.
The only delay that may be encountered, Faeldon said, is if a problem arises with the shipment.
Listing the contents of the balikbayan box is also meant to protect the senders because their recipients can check if what they received is correct and complete, he noted.
Details from the information sheet will also be used to record and monitor if QFWAs have exceeded the limit value. This may also be used against individuals that will try to use the names of OFWs to smuggle goods into the country.
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