BOC, DMW assure OFWs of continuing govt. support

On Mar 8, 2026

Bureau of Customs Commissioner Ariel F. Nepomuceno (standing, extreme right), explaining to the various OFW organizations the measures the government are taking to protect their rights and welfare during aa consultative meeting at the BOC main office in Manila together with officials from the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW), February 24, 2026 (Photo: BOC-PIAD).

THE Bureau of Customs (BOC) under Commissioner Ariel F. Nepomuceno, assured the Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW) community of the government’s continuing support and assistance to their concerns during a round of consultative meeting last February 24.

Together with the Department of Migrants Workers (DMW) thru Assistant Secretary Vennie Legaspi, Nepomuceno and other top Customs officials met with representatives from various OFW organizations to give an update on the initiatives taken by the government to address the OFWs’ immediate concern: the handling and delivery of balikbayan boxes and the campaign against unscrupulous freight forwarding companies.

The talk came in the background of the BOC’s continuing delivery of abandoned balikbayan boxes that begun last December. The deliveries are expected to be concluded in the coming days.

On inventory, the BOC found there are more than 100 container vans loaded with thousands of abandoned balikbayan boxes in the country’s various ports, some of them pending from as far back as two years ago.

With the support of President Marcos Junior and personal intercession of Department of Finance (DOF) Secretary Frederick Go, the BOC started releasing the balikbayan boxes in two batches to their rightful claimants, free of charge.

The first was on December 18, 2025, involving 20,944 balikbayan boxes loaded in 68 container vans.

The release of the second batch was started last February 18 involving 24,536 balikbayan boxes loaded in 72 container vans and personally witnessed by Secretary Go (Pinoy Exposé, February 19, 2026).

During the meeting, the BOC and the DMW also presented preventive measures and reforms in the existing processes in the handling of balikbayan boxes and in curbing fraudulent practices by freight forwarding companies.

They include advisories on freight forwarding companies and regular updates to the OFW community to safeguard their shipment, better monitoring and reporting systems and close coordination with logistics partners.

“This will not be our first and last meeting.

“Rest assured that we remain committed to addressing the concerns of our OFWs, particularly in ensuring the proper handling of your hard-earned balikbayan boxes,” Commissioner Nepomuceno assured.