Tuesday, December 25, 2018

A Very Novel Way Of Sending Packages

By Douglas Mitchell


People sometimes migrate to look for greener pastures. This is especially true in countries where job opportunities are few or the pay is just too low. One particular country has been very successful in exporting workers. These often become resident aliens in another country and stay there for a long time. When they return home they bring with them present for family and friends using a concept call balikbayan box padala.

This particular container is a cultural expression of close knit family relations in the Philippines. It is a practice ingrained in attitudes and habits of the people from this nation. Even before the advent of this box, it has been a common practice to bring home some excess food during fiestas. When people travel to a different island, they are expected to bring home something.

The practice of sending or bringing a home present when one comes from a travel is unique only to the Philippines. This nation archipelago of more the seven thousand islands has three main geographical subdivisions which are the main island of Luzon, Mindanao, and the smaller island at the center called the Visayas. Roman Catholicism is the main religion with Muslim influence in the south.

Every region in this country has different regionalism traits and attitudes as well as dialects. The northern region where the seat of government is situated speaks Tagalog. The central islands of the Visayas and the main southern island of Mindanao speak variations of a vernacular called Bisaya. Localities even have different intonations in speech.

These influences were carried over with the increase in the number of workers going abroad seeking job opportunities, particularly in the United States. This started when America had a shortage of nurses of which the Philippines had plenty of. Most of the overseas workers eventually become immigrants and some are granted citizenship.

Hospitality is one of the greatest traits of Filipinos. They seem to have a special skill in making strangers feel at home. This trait is even more pronounced when they deal with blood relatives and friends to the point of spending hard earned money and really taking the time to send gifts and present to family and friends in the Philippines. They send it using the balikbayan box.

Three hundred years of Spanish rule and fifty years of American occupation has made an impact on the Filipino psyche. The influence can no more be as opposite as black and white. It is like a mixture of oil and water. We are talking about hard religious fanaticism married to Hollywood liberalism. This unique trait made the government legislated laws for that made taxes and customs duties affordable to workers from abroad.

This concept was developed as a return favor for the contributions of migrant workers to the economy. However, this became chaotic in the aftermath of the nine eleven attacks. With the creation of the homeland security department, all these containers were opened and thoroughly inspected resulting in a delay of up to about a month or two.

The most common complaint about this government program is pilferage. This happens when the packages got through the national postal service or through customs. It really is difficult for this plentiful packages to be monitored and tracked. Some employees of these services can be tempted to pilfer the contents once they are inspected. This will force the sender to seek other methods.




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