For the first time in the UAE, freight forwarders to the Philippines come together under the watch of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) to protect OFWs from fly-by-night operators. Find out who they are.
DUBAI: With balikbayan box shipments at its peak for the yuletide season, the Philippine Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has brought together UAE agents of its accredited freight forwarders to ensure that overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) are protected from unscrupulous operators taking advantage of the Christmas rush.
The group, named League of Freight Forwarders (LFF), inaugurated on Oct. 19, will be the “legitimate source of general information related to balikbayan boxes and will educate consumers, the Filipino community, to protect themselves from the fly-by-night operators,” said Commercial Attaché Charmaine Mignon S. Yalong.
“The inception of LFF under the Philippine Business Council (PBC) is just in time to bring back the confidence of the OFWs and balikbayans in sending their hard-earned balikbayan boxes to the Philippines,” Yalong told representatives of some 14 cargo forwarders at the event held in Millennium Airport Hotel Dubai.
“I am sure you remember that it has been the personal advocacy of former Commercial Attaché Eric Elnar to really fight against fly-by-night operators,” she said.
Yalong said LFF aims to foster fellowship among its members and other global industry associations as well as provide a platform for the industry to discuss common concerns affecting business.
Interviewed on the phone, Yalong explained that LFF members are foreign agents of DTI-accredited cargo forwarders in the Philippines. “We acknowledge their foreign agents like their operators in the UAE,” she told The Filipino Times.
Yalong said DTI, while not stop OFWs from acquiring services of non-LFF members, but stressed that the forwarders’ group “provides that extra layer of protection,” being recognized by the Philippine government as well as a legitimate business association in the Filipino community.
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“We don’t really stop them. Not all foreign agents are LFF members. We are not stopping them from getting the services of other companies licensed to operate in the UAE. But LFF, in a way, provides that extra layer of protection. Kilala ito ng PBC,” Yalong said.
There are about 37 freight forwarding companies in the UAE. Yalong said LFF is still in its infancy stage, having been initially formed just three months ago. “Three months pa lang ang LFF. Kaka-launch pa lang nito. We haven’t reached out to all UAE-based companies,” she said.
Yalong said DTI has its list of accredited freight forwarder in this link.
Following rues
Meantime, Allan Michael Bautista, LBC regional sales manager who also heads LFF, said the organization will follow rules in line with DTI regulations, with members ensuring that their delivery partners in the Philippines are accredited by DTI’s Fair Trade Enforcement Bureau (FTEB).
Other qualifications include being registered in the UAE with declared activities the same as what is written on their trade license.
Modus operandi
Bautista said fly-by-night operators undercut their cost by choosing a ground agent at ports in the Philippines that offers the lowest rate, which are also those not recognized by DTI and does not have the level of organization required to handle deliveries.
“Ang nasasakripisyo ay yung customer,” Bautista said. (The customer bears the brunt.)
“Pagdating sa Pilipinas, ang kukunin ay yung pinakamurang freight forwarder; dahil mura, hindi recognized ng DTI. Yung isang container, may 200 to 250 boxes..ilang customer yan? Kung yung isang container hindi na-deliver dahil hindi legitimate ang forwarder na nasa Pilipinas, paano na?” Bautista said. (They get the lowest charging freight forwarder in the Philippines, which is also not recognized by DTI. A container has 200 to 250 boxes. If one container is not delivered, what now?)
He added that fly-by-nights usually come during peak seasons like Christmas. “Lahat sasabihin ‘We accept Philippine cargo,’ tapos ganito lang ang presyo, malayo sa standard rate kasi nga undercut, pagdating sa forwarder sa Pilipinas, labu-labo,” Bautista said. (Shops will be coming out saying “We accept Philippine cargo,” and the price is low, way lower than the standard rate because, as it turns out, the operator undercut. When the boxes reach the Philippines, it’s total helter skelter.)
Raju Rajendra, LFF vice chairman and managing director at Qualitair&Sea, a cargo forwarding company, for his part said the “existence of unscrupulous agents” is one of the “struggles of OFWs who leave their country to make an honest living.”
“Fly-by-night operators collect money and vanish without fulfilling their commitment,” he said.
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Co-loading
“Merong ngang mga ganyan,” Augusto ‘Marz’ Marcial, Makati Express business development officer, meantime said. “Hindi pa naman nawawala yung mga ganyan.” (There are those who operate that way.)
Marcial also said small companies which could not fill up a whole container, resort to co-loading their boxes to bigger ones, charging full rate from their customers but holding payments owed to forwarders.
“Naniningil ng full payment pero i-uutang sa forwarder,” he said. (They will ask full payment but withhold what they should pay the forwarder.)
Another downside to transacting business with a small, unheard-of company, Marcial said, is that problem arises when something happened to the co-loaded balikbayan box. “Kapag may nangyari sa cargo, yun ang problema,” said Marcial. (That’s a problem when something happened to the co-loaded box.)
Marcial said Makati Express does not anymore accept co-loading.
The official 14 members of the LFF are:
LBC
Makati Express
CMG
Pinas Cargo
Frico International
JRS Logistics
Filcom Express
Top Express Cargo
Flomic Balikayan Cargo
Prime Express
GoUniversal Cargo and Logistics LLC
QualitAir&Sea International Logistics
Crystal Cargo
Grupo Filipino Cargo