Delayed Balikbayan Box Delivery From Qatar Spoils Content, Angers Recipients

A long-delayed delivery of balikbayan box from Qatar has rendered its contents worthless, earning the ire of the receiving family.

In a complaint filed before the program ‘Sumbungan Ng Bayan’, OFW Rodante Rollan Jr reportedly paid P10,000 on a cargo forwarding agency tasked to deliver the box to his family in the Philippines.

“Noong nagpadala ako sa Doha, Qatar it was November kasi nag-exit na po ako. Tapos sabi po nila in 45-50 days, mare-receive na raw namin yung bagahe,” said Rollan, who returned to the Philippines before Christmas of 2016 and expected to be among those who will receive the box.

Yet the promised delivery did not materialize.

Now Rollan flew back to work overseas, and took four more months before the balikbayan box finally arrived.

List of Balikbayan Box Companies Accredited By DTI

Adding insult to injury on the part of Rollan’s family is when they discovered that some of its contents, notably the canned goods, were spoiled and were no longer fit for consumption.

Rollan used Pinoy Cargo freight forwarding company, whose local partner DEEC Freight Forwarder and Logistics Company based in Muntinlupa City delivered the box. However, when staff of the program visited the company premises, it reportedly moved to a new location in Las Piñas, which, when visited, was also nowhere to be found.

Repeated messages of enquiru through email and Facebook Page of Doha-based Pinoy Cargo, went unanswered.

It was learned that Pinoy Cargo and local counterpart DEEC were no longer in the list of DTI-accredited freight forwarders.

The complaint has since been put forward to the Fair Trade and Enforcement Bureau of the Department of Trade and Industry. If proven guilty, Pinoy Cargo is subject to a fine of P50,000 or get blacklisted as it has no accreditation from DTI.