Compassion, like hope, cannot be manufactured. A person either has compassion or none at all. The lack of it is defined by compassion’s antonym: Indifference. A stronger antonym would be merciless. When Bureau of Customs (BoC) Commissioner Alberto Lina declared his intent to impose tighter controls over balikbayan boxes sent home by overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), these antonyms prevailed.
The embattled customs chief said that he was just implementing the law. Note that during the initial phase of the balikbayan boxes’ controversy, Commissioner Lina emphasized the need to carry out the law, not to change it.
On Aug. 24, news media published this quote from the Customs chief: “Customs isn’t changing any of its policies except for properly implementing what the law says. If my predecessors were lax in implementing it, then I’m sorry, but I will do my job as Commissioner.”
In his reminders to OFWs, Commissioner Lina cited the law, which was created under an Executive Order during the time of President Corazon C. Aquino when the Philippine Congress had yet to re-open its doors:
“The contents of a balikbayan box must not exceed US$500 in value. Canned goods, grocery items and other household effects must not exceed a dozen a kind, while apparel, whether used or new, must not exceed 3 yards per cut. Only one consignment per sender during a one-month period is allowed.”
He also clarified that the $500 is equivalent to only Php10, 000 per box based on the exchange rates dating back to the issuance of the said order.
Of course, the BoC chief has since softened his stance. The law, he said, needs to be amended to make it more OFW-friendly. Rappler, a Philippine-based online news service quoted Lina’s clarification thusly: “The BoC is implementing ... the customs and tariff law of the Philippines. But we understand that there is an urgent need to modernize and update these laws and processes … so we’ll be able to improve our delivery of services to the entire nation, especially to the benefit of our OFWs.”
This week, the Senate and House of Representatives have invited Commissioner Lina, OFW sector representatives, and private companies engaged in the business of balikbayan boxes to help in the crafting of a law that aims to modernize the Bureau of Customs and streamline its procedures as well as update its tariffs. The bill, entitled, “Customs Modernization and Tariff Act” has been languishing in Congress for the past 16 years. That it is now on third reading, offers hope for final passage.
Did the Bureau of Customs undertake its recent media blitzkrieg regarding balikbayan boxes to shine the spotlight on this over-delayed measure?
OFWs are unaware of internal politics involving customs officials, smugglers and cargo forwarders. All they want is to help their families. It was up to the Bureau of Customs to make sure that the rights of our OFWs would not be trampled upon. Section 3 of the Philippine Constitution directs the State to “afford full protection to labor, local and overseas, organized and unorganized, and promote full employment and equality of employment opportunities for all.”
Opening balikbayan boxes at random certainly violates our overseas workers’ right to full protection. vHad President Aquino not intervened, these arbitrary random checks on balikbayan boxes would have dragged on. It was irresponsible for the BoC to have acted the way it did. For obvious reasons, previous administrations chose not to implement the Customs law on balikbayan boxes. Sometimes, compassion needs to be present for common sense to prevail.
• RELATED LINK: What are balikbayan boxes?
