A New Concept Of Sending Packages To Another Country

By Douglas Mitchell


Earning a living in this modern era is varied as it comes. People all over the world engage in various activities that can earn them money for their effort. Often times people from other countries migrate to another for better employment opportunities. When they become financially stable they often send items to family members and relatives who are still in their parent countries. They send the items using the balikbayan box padala.

This carton receptacle is a manifestation of a cultural ambiguity of close family ties as it is known in the Philippines. It is a tradition in this culturally rich country. Even before this concept was implemented, it has been a practice as evidenced by invited guests to take home excess food during celebrations. When they travel to different parts of the nation, they bring home delicacies.

This habit used to happen only in this particular country where there are several islands. It is an archipelagic nation composed of more than seven thousand islands and islets. These are three main geographic divisions namely, Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. Although this is largely a Christian country, the southern island has a large Muslim population.

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.

The shortage of nurses in U. S. Hospitals ignited the mass migration of nurses from the Philippines, the former United States occupied territory. This influx started a trend of mass producing nurses in that country. This was also made possible with the reality then that America had bases, both naval and aviation. Most of these migrant workers eventually acquire citizenship in the U. S.

Filipinos are fond of sending items to their relatives and sometimes they schedule to return to home visits bringing along with them items as presents for friends and relatives. For those working inside the United States, these are placed inside what is called a balikbayan box. It is loosely translated or literally as repatriate boxes. The place an assortment of things inside this box and bring it with them to the Philippines.

The government of the Philippines eventually recognized this penchant for sending and bringing things from abroad, which by the way is also a trait of this people and formulated some legislation to exempt it from taxes up to a certain fixed value. This trait is the culmination of three hundred years of Spanish rule and fifty years of American occupation.

The concept was formulated in recognition of the economic contribution of these employees in terms of dollar remittances. Professional manpower has become a major export for this nation. There was a hitch to this program during the nine eleven terrorist attacks. In its aftermath, the homeland security department was created which strictly monitored and inspected these containers.

In its own way, it is a very unique type of package. This is only being done by one country as an expression of gratitude to the efforts of its overseas workers. But as in other places, these are sometimes subjected to pilferage when it goes through the bureau of customs or the postal service. It altogether is not uncommon to hear complaints of items being missing.




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