DIR. JUN AGUILAR SHOULD HEAD A DIVISION THAT DEALS WITH BALIKBAYAN BOX ISSUES
I believe that the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) should establish a department to handle the issue of missing balikbayan boxes sent by Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs). I think Director Francisco “Jun” Aguilar is the right person to lead this department because of his qualifications and experience. Before joining the government, Director Aguilar was an OFW in Saudi Arabia and later started his own business in the Philippines. He also worked in the House of Representatives before being appointed by the first DMW Secretary, Susan “Toots” Ople, who has since passed away due to cancer.
I first met Director Aguilar last year when Secretary Hans Cacdac’s office referred me to him regarding a complaint about balikbayan boxes. I found him to be very approachable and good at dealing with OFWs. Our paths crossed again when OFWs from Kuwait faced issues with their balikbayan boxes being abandoned by the cargo forwarder, Tag Cargo. We approached Director Aguilar after learning that the Bureau of Customs planned to donate the abandoned boxes to the DMW.
In our initial discussions, Director Aguilar and I agreed that the boxes should be sent to their rightful owners instead of requiring the OFWs to retrieve them. He emphasized that it is unfair for OFWs, who have already paid for the cargo service, to be further burdened by having to collect their boxes. Currently, Director Aguilar is one of the leading figures in the imminent distribution of the Tag Cargo balikbayan boxes, which are soon to be released at the Davao port and Manila International Container Port.
