We urge that Philippine President Benigno Aquino Jr. directs his Custom Chief Commissioner Alberto Lina to stop opening the Balikbayan boxes send by overseas Filipinos around the world. We are not smugglers, we are migrant workers sending goods to our families from our hard-earned money.
Why is this important?
There are more than 10 million overseas Filipinos around the world sending hundreds of thousands of Balikbayan boxes for their families in the Philippines. For decades, these boxes have not been opened. We believe that the Bureau of Customs should focus on smugglers bringing in tons of smuggled rice, sugar, commercial goods, etc. in the country. We are migrant workers regularly remitting our hard-earned money to help our economy. We are even recognized as the modern day heroes by the government. We do not deserve this!
