New ‘Balikbayan Box Law’ for approval in Senate

MANILA, Philippines – Senate President Pro-Tempore Ralph Recto on Sunday said a new “Balikbayan Box Law” (BBL) is now pending for approval in the Senate after it was consolidated with a Customs reform bill.

Recto said the proposed BBL, which aims to raise the tax-exempt value of "pasalubong" cargo brought in or sent by overseas Filipino workers (OFW) to P150,000, is now a section in the proposed Customs Modernization and Tariff Act (CMTA).

CMTA, defined as “conditionally-free and duty-exempt importation," was sponsored on the floor by Sen. Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara, chair of the Senate Ways and Means Committee, last month.

”That became the agreement in the ‘BBL’ which has been included in the CMTA,” Recto said.

Recto filed the Senate Bill No. 2913, which he dubbed Balikbayan Box Law or BBL, following the public protest against Bureau of Customs’ directive to open and inspect balikbayan boxes. The order revealed outdated regulations, including taxing any box with content worth more than P10,000.

“Residents of the Philippines, Overseas Filipino Workers, other Filipinos while residing abroad or in their return to the Philippines shall be allowed to bring in or send to their families or relatives in the Philippines balikbayan boxes which shall be exempt from duties and taxes,” the section read.

Recto said that with his proposed BBL, the “total dutiable value” of the boxes shall not exceed 150,000 which can only be enjoyed “up to three times in a calendar year.” However, the measure states that the boxes must contain “personal and household effects only and shall neither be in commercial quantities, nor intended for barter, sale or for hire.”

“This means that an OFW can send two boxes at the same time provided that their total worth is not more than P150,000. That will be counted as one shipment,” Recto said.

“This is to prevent senders from abusing this privilege. With this privilege comes the duty to observe the law. And it also comes with penalties so that smugglers won’t take advantage of it,” he added.

The senator added that Senate Bill No. 2913 also includes a provision indexing rates to inflation “so that it will not take another quarter-of-a-century to adjust the tax-exempt ceiling for balikbayan boxes.”

”Every three years after the effectivity of this Act, the Secretary of Finance, upon recommendation of the Commissioner (of Customs), shall review the value herein stated and shall adjust its present value using the Consumer Price Index as published by the Philippine Statistics Authority,” the provision read.

According to Recto, the “antiquated provision” of slapping a 50 percent duty on the value of a balikbayan box in excess of PhP10,000 was set 28 years ago through President Corazon Aquino’s Executive Order 206 while the BOC Memorandum Circular 7990 which raised the maximum value of a tax-exempt balikbayan box to USD 500 is already more than 25 years old.

BBL is included in the CMTA which is a consolidation of eight bills. Recto wrote two bills with another named Senate Bill 456, that increases penalties for smuggling.