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The fight is far from over.
“Not content with the ‘initial victory’ of President Benigno Aquino III’s order to stop the random inspection of balikbayan boxes, Migrante party-list has called for a ‘Zero Remittance Day’ to press government to junk its PHP600-million revenue target from packages sent home by overseas Filipinos,” reports InterAksyon.com.
In a statement released on Tue, Aug 25, Migrante explained: “On August 28, overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) will launch a Zero Remittance Day to call on Aquino to retract the PHP600-million target revenue from balikbayan boxes.” The group hopes to encourage OFWs to join the protest by not sending remittances on the said day.
READ: Customs chief’s reminder: All balikbayan boxes subject to tax
While saying they were “pleased” by Aquino’s order to stop the random inspection of balikbayan boxes, Mirgrante chair Connie Bragas-Regalado noted that “the Bureau of Customs (BOC) had earlier blamed monthly losses of PHP50 million, or PHP600 million annually, on ‘smuggled goods’ or ‘non-declared goods’ in balikbayan boxes.”
READ: PNoy says STOP random inspections of balikbayan boxes
Many, if not all, OFWs are protesting the burdensome duty tax being imposed on the balikbayan boxes.
Photo: TheFilipinoExpat.com
