BayaniBox

You know how sometimes balikbayan boxes get lost or take a long time to arrive? Well, the Bureau of Customs has teamed up with E-Science to create something called BayaniBox.

BayaniBox makes things easier and smoother when you send balikbayan boxes. It helps people living overseas and their families in the Philippines to send and keep track of their shipments without any hassle. So, it's a more convenient way to send these special boxes back home.

BayaniBox offers helpful features to make sending balikbayan boxes easier:

1. It gives you a list of trusted balikbayan box forwarders, so you can be sure you're dealing with legitimate companies when booking shipments.
2. You can see a clear view of your current and past balikbayan box shipments, making it easy to keep track of everything.
3. BayaniBox sends you emails and portal notifications to let you know the status of your shipment. You'll be informed when your packages are sent and when they arrive in the Philippines.
4. Each box has a special label with a QR code. Forwarders use this code to identify the box properly when it arrives in the Philippines and leaves their warehouse.
5. It also allows seamless transfer of information between Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) and forwarders, so you get real-time updates on your shipment's progress.

Qualified Filipinos abroad who send balikbayan boxes via sea freight may use BayaniBox.

In future developments, balikbayan boxes via air freight will also be handled by BayaniBox.

Qualified Filipinos while abroad shall be exempt from payment of duties and taxes up to 3 times per year or up to a maximum value of Php150,000.00, whichever comes first.

Items prohibited from being sent through balikbayan boxes are the following:

• currencies, checks, money orders and traveler’s checks;
• jewelries;
• firearms, ammunitions and explosives;
• prohibited drugs and other substances;
• pornographic materials, gambling cards and toy guns;
• items of commercial quantity;
• plant seeds and plant materials, and
• any food stuff that are not in cans, sealed packages, or in bottles

For the complete list, you may visit: BOC Prohibited Restricted Importations

Register:

1. Ensure that you have a working email and your passport details ready
2. Click the “Sign up” and follow the instructions
3. Enter your passport details and prepare a photo or scanned copy of your passport for uploading
4. Click submit and check your email for your temporary password
5. Go back to BayaniBox login page and enter your email address and temporary password
6. Assign a new password with a minimum of xx characters, including uppercase letters, lowercase letters, numbers and special characters.

Book a balikbayan box:

1. Login to your account using your email address and new password
2. Click the “Add Box” button found on the upper right portion of your screen
3. Enter sender details
4. Select from the list of registered balikbayan box forwarders
5. Enter recipient details
6. Enter itemized goods, quantity and estimated value
7. Review and submit your booking
8. On the booking confirmation page, click “Download Balikbayan Box Label”
9. Print and paste the label on the same side of the balikbayan box where the name and address of the recipient are written/shown
10. Optional: Click “Send Details to Email” to send a copy of your booking to your family in the Philippines

Currently, BayaniBox will inform you that you have already reached your maximum limit for the year and will not allow you to proceed with a new booking.

In the future, BayaniBox will allow you to book boxes beyond the tax-free limit and will inform BOC of the taxable shipment you are willing to book and pay for.

If the contents of your box is later determined to be prohibited, restricted or regulated for importation, it may be put on hold until clearance from the Bureau of Customs is obtained.

Always be mindful of who you deal with, especially those who offer very low rates. BayaniBox shows the list of accredited forwarding agents but you may also check from the DTI website.

You may visit: Accredited Seafreight Forwarders

You may send us an email at info@bayanibox.com and we will confirm with DTI before updating the system.

• Draft - You have saved your booking have not yet submitted your booking
• Request submitted - You have finalized your booking and is now sent to your selected forwarder
• Shipped - Balikbayan box departed from Country of Origin
• Received at Deconsolidator Warehouse (Ph) - Balikbayan box has arrived in the deconsolidator warehouse in the Philippines
• Released from Deconsolidator Warehouse (Ph) - Balikbayan box left the deconsolidator warehouse for delivery to the recipient
• On-hold* - Box is on hold in the deconsolidator warehouse
• Shortlanded* - Box is not in the container
• Overlanded* - Box is found on the container not included on the container manifest

At this point, it will be the PH-based deconsolidator or forwarder who will be able to tell if the box has been delivered. You may check the Bill of Lading given to you by your chosen consolidator to know who to call.