A balikbayan box () is a

corrugated box Corrugated box design is the process of matching design factors for corrugated fiberboard boxes with the functional physical, processing and end-use requirements. Packaging engineers work to meet the performance requirements of a box while control ...

containing items sent by

overseas Filipino An overseas Filipino ( fil, Pilipino sa ibayong-dagat) is a person of full or partial Filipino origin—i.e., people who trace back their ancestry to the Philippines but living or residing outside the country. This term generally applies to b ...

s (known as "

balikbayan An overseas Filipino ( fil, Pilipino sa ibayong-dagat) is a person of full or partial Filipinos, Filipino origin—i.e., people who trace back their ancestry to the Philippines but living or residing outside the country. This term generally a ...

s", literally "returning to the country/nation"). Though often shipped by

freight forwarder A freight forwarder, or forwarding agent, is a person or company who, for a fee organizes shipments for individuals or corporations to get goods from the manufacturer or producer to a market, customer or final point of distribution.

s specializing in balikbayan boxes by sea, such boxes can be brought by Filipinos returning to the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

by air.

History

In 1973 the Philippine Government under the former Philippine President

Ferdinand Marcos Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralin Marcos Sr. ( , , ; September 11, 1917 – September 28, 1989) was a Filipino politician, lawyer, dictator, and kleptocrat who was the 10th president of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986. He ruled under martial ...

began to specifically encourage

Filipino Americans Filipino Americans ( fil, Mga Pilipinong Amerikano) are Americans of Filipino ancestry. Filipinos and other Asian ethnicities in North America were first documented in the 16th century as slaves and prisoners on ships sailing to and from New ...

to visit their family home towns in the Philippines. Individuals who did so became known as ''balikbayan'', from the tagalog words ''balik'', "to return", and ''bayan'', "town/settlement". As part of this program, customs procedures were eased for these travellers. This program was maintained and expanded by subsequent administrations. Individuals who returned often brought gifts for friends and family, part of a culture of using gifts to show appreciation and improve relations by those who were seen by the community as having achieved success in a career abroad. For those returning with valid balikbayan status, customs fees were waived for the contents of two boxes per individual. Eventually, it became common to package gifts, often household goods and other practical items, in a box while still abroad. The boxes would then be shipped to the Philippines. The balikbayan box became popular circa the 1980s in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

due to the influx of

overseas Filipino worker Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) is a term often used to refer to Filipino migrant workers, people with Filipino citizenship who reside in another country for a limited period of employment. The number of these workers was roughly 1.77 million be ...

s in the country. The first

to offer balikbayan box services was Rico Nunga, who started REN International in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, in 1981. The following year, Ramon Ungco, a

Filipino Filipino may refer to: * Something from or related to the Philippines ** Filipino language, standardized variety of 'Tagalog', the national language and one of the official languages of the Philippines. ** Filipinos, people who are citizens of th ...

residing in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, founded Port Jersey Shipping International. These two companies are considered the pioneers of

door-to-door Door-to-door is a canvassing technique that is generally used for sales, marketing, advertising, evangelism or campaigning, in which the person or persons walk from the door of one house to the door of another, trying to sell or advertise a p ...

delivery of balikbayan boxes, which back then were charged import duties upon arrival in the

. On 30 June 1987 then-

Philippine President The president of the Philippines ( fil, Pangulo ng Pilipinas, sometimes referred to as ''Presidente ng Pilipinas'') is the head of state, head of government and chief executive of the Philippines. The president leads the executive branch of t ...

Corazon Aquino Maria Corazon "Cory" Sumulong Cojuangco-Aquino (; ; January 25, 1933 – August 1, 2009) was a Filipina politician who served as the 11th president of the Philippines from 1986 to 1992. She was the most prominent figure of the 1986 People P ...

enacted Executive Order No. 206. This order amended Section 105 (f), and added a new subsection (f-1) to Republic Act No. 1937, also known as the Tariff and Customs Code of the Philippines, which was signed into law on 22 July 1957 by former president

Carlos P. Garcia Carlos Polestico Garcia (November 4, 1896 – June 14, 1971) was a Filipino teacher, poet, orator, lawyer, public official, political economist, guerrilla and Commonwealth military leader who was the eighth president of the Philippines. A l ...

. The amended Section 105 of the Tariff and Customs Code of the Philippines provides duty- and tax-free privileges to balikbayan boxes sent to the Philippines by

overseas Filipino workers Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) is a term often used to refer to Filipino migrant workers, people with Filipino citizenship who reside in another country for a limited period of employment. The number of these workers was roughly 1.77 million be ...

(OFWs) as recognition of their labors in foreign lands, as well as bringing additional foreign exchange annually, that contributed to the national recovery effort. This allowed tax-free entry of personal goods into the country from Filipinos overseas. People then began sending balikbayan boxes through friends and co-workers returning to the Philippines. After the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercia ...

in the US, and the passage of the

Patriot Act The USA PATRIOT Act (commonly known as the Patriot Act) was a landmark Act of the United States Congress, signed into law by President George W. Bush. The formal name of the statute is the Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropr ...

by the

US Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washingto ...

, balikbayan boxes have been subjected to rigorous inspections by the

United States Department of Homeland Security The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the Federal government of the United States, U.S. United States federal executive departments, federal executive department responsible for public security, roughly comparable to the I ...

's Out-Bound Exam Team that caused delays of up to three weeks at the

US Customs The United States Customs Service was the very first federal law enforcement agency of the U.S. federal government. Established on July 31, 1789, it collected import tariffs, performed other selected border security duties, as well as conducted c ...

inspection facility. This extended shipping time from 21 days to over 30 days. The inspections also resulted in opened balikbayan boxes and complaints of

package pilferage Package pilferage is the theft of part of the contents of a package. It may also include theft of the contents but leaving the package, perhaps resealed with bogus contents. Small packages can be pilfered from a larger package such as a shippin ...

and mishandling. The Philippine Bureau of Customs also conducts 100% inspections that added to the burden of delayed shipments. The inspections are the result of some unscrupulous individuals using balikbayan boxes to smuggle commercial items without paying taxes, or to smuggle

contraband Contraband (from Medieval French ''contrebande'' "smuggling") refers to any item that, relating to its nature, is illegal to be possessed or sold. It is used for goods that by their nature are considered too dangerous or offensive in the eyes o ...

. Since balikbayan box shipping is a consolidated shipment, one illegal item will affect all approximately 400 packages in the container. The inspection process has been modernized with the installation of high performance X-ray machines. In 2012, these delays were further aggravated by the decision of the

City of Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populated ...

to impose a truck ban on the route to the

Port of Manila The Port of Manila ( fil, Pantalan ng Maynila) refers to the collective facilities and terminals that process maritime trade function in harbors in Metro Manila. Located in the Port Area and Tondo districts of Manila, Philippines facing the M ...

, causing backlogs in releasing and transporting all cargo, domestic and international. Most balikbayan box companies, which are based in

Parañaque Parañaque, officially the City of Parañaque ( fil, Lungsod ng Parañaque, ), is a first class Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Metro Manila, National Capital Region of the Philippines. According to t ...

near the

airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surface ...

, were significantly affected by the truck ban until it was resolved. The industry was scrutinized by the Philippine Senate in 2015, after complaints were brought to the attention of the public via social media after the Philippine Customs Commissioner, Albert Lina, announced the opening of balikbayan boxes for inspection and additional taxes to be imposed. The inquiry brought the passage of the Customs Modernization Act, which had been pending for years, and the inclusion of the Balikbayan Box Law in the act, increasing the tax-exemption ceiling from PHP 500 to PHP 150,000. This included items being brought home by Filipino tourists from trips abroad, pasalubong or gifts, and returning resident shipments. To protect consumers, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), through its Philippine Shipper's Bureau, conducts regular accreditation of international freight forwarders and discourages consumers from patronizing unaccredited and incredibly cheap shipping companies. According to the Door to Door Consolidated Association of the Philippines 400,000 balikbayan boxes arrive in the Philippines monthly.

Description

Balikbayan boxes may contain items the sender thinks the recipient would like, regardless of whether those items can be bought cheaply in the Philippines, such as non-perishable food, toiletries, household items, electronics, toys, designer clothing, or items difficult to find in the Philippines. A balikbayan box intended for air travel is designed to conform to airline luggage restrictions and many Filipino stores sell them. Some boxes come with a cloth cover and side handles. Others are tightly secured with tape or rope, and thus not confused with an ordinary moving box that is lightly wrapped. The balikbayan boxes come in three standard sizes: * Medium: * Large: * Extra large: Shipped boxes are delivered directly to the recipient, usually the family of the overseas Filipino.

Cultural significance

Part of the attraction of the balikbayan box is its economic value, as it allows cheaper shipment of items versus shipping in smaller boxes via postal services. The tradeoff is longer transit time by

container ship A container ship (also called boxship or spelled containership) is a cargo ship that carries all of its load in truck-size intermodal containers, in a technique called containerization. Container ships are a common means of commercial intermodal ...

, typically requiring several weeks, and the lack of a definite delivery date. The balikbayan box is a modern manifestation of the Philippine custom of ''

pasalubong ''Pasalubong'' ( Tagalog, " omethingfor when you welcome me") is the Filipino tradition of travellers bringing gifts from their destination to people back home. ''Pasalubong'' can be any gift or souvenir brought for family or friends after bei ...

'', where domestic or foreign travelers are expected to bring gifts for family, friends and colleagues. Balikbayan boxes provide connection between family in the Philippines and those abroad, and provide goods for the family in the Philippines.

History

Description

Cultural significance

See also

References

Further reading