Abandoned balikbayan boxes: OFWs’ love lost in transit
Thousands of balikbayan boxes, filled with OFWs' gifts and sacrifices, have been abandoned in warehouses for nearly three years, their contents spoiled or damaged. This heartbreaking issue highlights the frustrations and emotional toll on OFWs and their families awaiting these symbols of love.
The Bureau of Customs (BOC) in the Philippines is addressing a massive backlog of abandoned balikbayan boxes, with up to 130,000 boxes (spanning over 100 containers) that have been left unclaimed at ports like the Manila International Container Port (MICP) for periods ranging from 8 months to over 3 years. These boxes, filled with gifts, chocolates, perfumes, food items, and personal effects sent by overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) to their families, were abandoned by freight forwarders and deconsolidators who collected payments from OFWs but failed to process or deliver the shipments. The problem accumulated over several years, with many boxes sitting idle since 2023 or earlier.
In December 2025, BOC Commissioner Ariel Nepomuceno, along with officials from the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and Department of Migrant Workers (DMW), inspected the abandoned boxes at MICP and launched the first wave of distribution on December 18, 2025. This initial phase covered 68 containers released to logistics partners for door-to-door delivery nationwide, funded by a P30-million allocation approved by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. The BOC aims to complete delivery of all abandoned boxes within 60 days, targeting completion by February 2026, though this depends on logistics partners' speed.
The government is pursuing legal action against the responsible deconsolidators, with BOC and NBI filing charges including large-scale estafa (fraud) against 11 deconsolidators as of January 2026. These companies face penalties and imprisonment for abandoning shipments after collecting payments from OFWs. Commissioner Nepomuceno emphasized that these boxes represent the sacrifices of OFWs and vowed to hold the responsible parties accountable under the law.
For OFWs and their families, the BOC has established an online tracking portal at https://customs.gov.ph/home/overseas-filipino-worker-ofw/ where they can check the status of their shipments. All distributions are being conducted free of charge, with no need for recipients to visit BOC offices. The Department of Migrant Workers is coordinating with affected OFWs to facilitate claims and ensure the packages finally reach their intended recipients after years of waiting.
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