DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – As the UAE’s economy springs back to life following months of coronavirus quarantine measures months ago, Filipinos have risen up to the occasion, sending balikbayan box-full of goodies and wish-list gifts for their loved ones’ Noche Buena back home.
Indeed! Come hell or high water, Filipinos in the UAE are not giving up on this tradition.
And so it goes that pandemic or not, Covid-19 or what not, the spirit of Christmas prevails among overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who, despite the immensely challenging times, have been managing to send gifts to their loved ones back home through balibayan boxes.
The “Ber” months have traditionally been peak season for door-to-door forwarders as OFWs start shipping boxes, which they have religiously started filling up around March with favorites, Noche Buena groceries and requested items that they bought mostly from sale events and discount stores.
Some did got the knack of it by surviving through “ayuda” free meals from Good Samaritans during the quarantine days, so they could save for their balikbayan boxes.
It takes at least two months for a balikbayan box to make it to the Philippines in time for the Christmas holidays – all things considered like port congestion, shipping time and delivery points, cargo forwarders said, adding that with this, the volume of cargo starts to peak around September.
Upswing
Allan Michael Bautista, head of the 15-member League of Freight Forwarders (LFF) in the UAE, said members have been reporting a gradual upswing in transactions. Last year, he said up to 7,000 boxes were being shipped every week to the Philippines during the Christmas peak season.
“We’re happy to hear among members of the LFF that business continues to pick up during this period and we’re looking forward for this trend to continue in the months that will follow till Christmas,” Babauta said.
Murali “Mike” Ragavan, owner and managing director of Makati Express, a door-to-door cargo forwarder company operating in Dubai over the past 20 years, for his part said the trend in sending balikbayan boxes home for Christmas has been changing in the past three to four years.
“The mindset has changed,” he said, explaining that port congestion issues have caused many OFWs to instead send in January or July, which he described as the peak months.
The ‘Ber’ months “are still high,” he said, but not as high as eight to 10 years ago when the volume “shoots very high before Christmas.”
Pandemic’s impact
Bautista said “a few forwarders based in the UAE decided to temporarily stop their services during the first few months of the pandemic.”
Ragavan said this was mostly during the quarantine months of April and May this year.
“In June, it suddenly surged high because people started travelling back and it peaked in July,” he said.
Bautista said demand eventually picked up as policy was eased and commercial businesses re-opened. “Even in the midst of the pandemic and during lockdown, OFWs pushed for ways to send whatever their families needed back home,” he said.
With thousands of OFWs having headed home after losing jobs in the past months, Bautista said cargo forwarders managed to stay afloat. “Nakakatulong ang ating mga LFF members para maiuwi ng ating mga kababayan ang kanilang mga kagamitan sa Pilipinas,” he said.
‘New Normal’
Bautista said they were, in this period of the “New Normal,” expecting the trend of sending balikbayan boxes to continue “as many of our kababayans will not be able to come home for the holidays with their family.”
He however noted that cargo forwarders are “anticipating (a) much longer lead time… given restrictions that are still ongoing sa ilang siyudad at rehiyon sa ating bansa due to the pandemic.”
The LFF was formed in 2018 to address concerns about OFWs falling victim to fly-by-night operators.
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