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The Bureau of Customs headed by Commissioner Nicanor Faeldon seized a balikbayan box allegedly containing 10 units of dismantled high-powered firearms from the US.
The illegal shipment that has been discovered during a random inspection conducted by the bureau stirs up confusion wether it really came from a legitimate OFW or some smugglers are taking advantage of the privilege that the government is giving the Overseas Filipino Workers.
Commissioner Faeldon made an appeal to everyone to refrain from using the name of the OFWs in order to smuggle goods into the country.
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The Customs Modernization and Tariff Act of the Philippines has recently provided the increase of OFW privileges by granting them higher exemptions from payment of Customs duties when sending balikbayan boxes.
Whoever did it is obviously taking advantage of that privilege and using the name of the legitimate OFWs who are working hard overseas doing a decent job and sacrificing for the future of their families back home.
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In related news,the BOC discovered in another random check,5 containers of misdeclared candies found to be lacking the appropriate Certificate of Product Registration from the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) after the inspection.The alerted shipment from China has a dutiable value of almost Php2Million according to BOC.