INTERESTINGLY ENOUGH, ukay-ukay is a touchy subject among cargo forwarders. It seems that some do engage in the ukay-ukay business and use the shipment of balikbayan boxes only as decoy. This enables them to charge rock bottom prices for the service. The danger, however, is the boxes could be confiscated and disappear once the forwarder is caught by local customs officials.

But that's not the only way balikbayan boxes could "disappear." A couple of years back, a scandal broke out when it was discovered that a Canada-based forwarding company was still accepting boxes for shipping to Manila even though it had long gone bankrupt; in other words, a ghost company was collecting fees and promising delivery of balikbayan boxes.

The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) was deluged by complaints from frustrated local recipients who never got their much-awaited boxes.

"The lesson is not to trust fly-by-night companies, and not to surrender to marketing gimmicks that are too good to be true," says Galang, who assisted in the investigations conducted by the DTI. Galang says his company helped track down the local counterparts of these questionable forwarders, whose containers were later found abandoned, the boxes' contents looted.

Such incidents give cargo forwarders a bad name and drive away consignees, which is what the senders are called in the business. At any rate, industry insiders say business has slowed down since the 9/11 bombings in New York, which affected many industries that were forced to layoff workers or push them into voluntary retirement, Filipinos included. That, coupled with rising cost of living in the United States, has compelled many Filipinos to drop the habit of sending balikbayan boxes.

Besides, "people are sick and tired of corned beef already," laments Concepcion. Many food items that have become balikbayan-box staples are also cheaper and easily available in the Philippines. Plus there's the fact that "90 percent of goods in America are made in China," says Concepcion; these will cost only one-fifth their US price if bought in Manila. Moreover, it seems people's priorities have changed, and their relatives back home would rather receive tangible tender loving care in cash than in kind. Concepcion's Alpha Cargo is in fact now working out arrangements with the Philippine telecommunications giant Globe to be an agent for "Globe Padala," a money-remittance service.

But Concepcion isn't ready to give up on the balikbayan box just yet. His company has been training its sights on the new arrivals to the United States, of which there still seems to be an endless supply. Alpha Cargo offers them the certainty that their boxes will arrive within 20 to 27 days for Luzon-bound packages and 27 to 35 days for those headed for the Visayas and Mindanao. Being a licensed cargo forwarder with a steady clientele, Alpha Cargo does not have to wait long for its containers to fill up because there is usually a deluge of boxes. It also keeps to the departure and arrival dates of the ocean-going vessels that carry the precious balikbayan cargo.

Still, it's been more than a year since I last got a balikbayan box from the States. Just recently, however, the postman delivered a smaller box, right in time for my daughter's postgraduation beach bonanza. She got a towel, sunglasses, two pairs of shorts, and a T-shirt. There were also two evening bags, but they came too late for her to pick one for her senior prom. And of course there were chocolates, which in our family are always appreciated, and are reminders that someone far away is wishing us well.