Victims of Philippine bound undelivered cargoes urge to report to the embassy
Migrant Workers Office of the Embassy of the Philippines in Kuwait stated that there were numerous requests for assistance on these concerns
By Ricky Laxa
Staff Writer
Philippine overseas workers in Kuwait urged its embassy to provide assistance to victims of Philippine bound cargo companies not only to recover their boxes, refund the fees but file legal actions against the owners and workers who failed to deliver their cargoes to their families.
In a series of interview with complainants exposed that several Philippine bound cargo companies have failed to deliver boxes to their recipients within delivery schedule stated in the receipts issued by the companies upon collection and payment of boxes. Complainants stated that many of the boxes have not been delivered until present.
“I have been waiting for the boxes for the past year and half and until today the company have refused and ignored my calls” stated Sally, a Filipino domestic worker in Kuwait. Many of the complainants mentioned that some have given up following up statuses of their boxes as these companies have either refused to answer calls, messages or promised with delivery repetitive till several months passed yet no delivery occurred. Failure to deliver some of the boxes are within six months till two years.
“I was informed that the cargo company I endorsed my boxes have been sold to a different owner and now reported either missing or lost and Bureau of Customs failed to locate the cargoes as no landing number or container number were provided.
Another Philippine-based cargo company refused to release the boxes to the recipients unless substantial amount were settled to cover shipping and clearance. “These fees were never discussed and I was assured that there will be no charges in the Philippines and now its a different story” complained Raisa, a Filipina domestic worker. Vilma a former Filipina worker in Kuwait disclosed that complaints have been made during the month of January 2024 and boxes sent on months of June till September of 2023 have not been delivered till today.
She added that a company in the Philippines owns several cargo companies in Kuwait and company names often changed after collections of fees and boxes have been done, leaving the complainants scammed. “These companies in Kuwait have different partners in the Philippines thus cargo boxes are distributed in different locations and in most instances claimed lost” added Vilma. One of the cargo companies have left the boxes abandoned in warehouses in Davao City, Cebu and Manila.
Victims urge the Philippine Embassy in Kuwait to coordinate with local authorities in Philippines and Kuwait to apprehend these companies as clearly these incidences are scams. “These were hard earned salaries companies literally steal from victims and it has to stop commented Linette, a complainant.
Complainants were informed by Philippine-based companies that many of the cargoes were not released due to non-payment of corresponding fees by Kuwait-based cargo companies resulting to either abandonment if not overdue storage.
Based on the complaints twelve cargo companies in Kuwait with their counterparts in the Philippines have been actively involved in these delay if not undelivered cargo services and the Migrant Workers Office of the Embassy of the Philippines in Kuwait stated that there were numerous requests for assistance on these concerns and warns Filipino nationals to refrain from sending their boxes to companies who have previous cases and complaints and trust only those who have good tract records on cargo services.
However, many of these complainants are domestic workers and have no privileges of day offs thus several just give up on filing complaints and following up for results. Many of the cargoes received after months or years stored in warehouses, recipients often complained about missing belongings, destroyed and opened boxes and in some cases stuffed with trash or items which were not their properties.
“These cargo companies often offer low charges with different complementary services, a way to lure clients to send their cargoes through them. Many of the victims are domestic workers who fall prey to these so called-scams. It is suggested to consider safety and assurance of their cargoes primarily rather than grab offer of lower prices” added Vilma.
Till today complainants suffer from being ignored, denied of communication, untrue promised dates of delivery and other cargo companies have moved out of their previous locations as complainants were able to find their offices and sites of storage and posted details on social media. Many of their contact numbers have been disconnected. Complainants also disclosed that agents of these cargo companies were Philippine nationals.
