HAWYARD, California – ACE Cargo agents Ed Cachuela and Ramon Bunag have been trying to find out what happened to the missing balikbayan boxes their clients ordered over a year ago.
“Kulang sa information and public dissemination on the part of ACE Cargo they have the moral obligation na gawin nyo yun,” said Bunag.
Both agents are caught in the mess after they found out that ACE Cargo has since closed shop.
Bunag has 15 boxes from clients missing, while Cachuela has 110 of his clients’ boxes still unaccounted for.
“I was very worried because most of my clients are calling me saying why their boxes were not delivered yet," Cachuella said.
Last January, 11,000 boxes shipped by ACE from California, Nevada and Washington were put on hold by the Philippine Department of Customs after reportedly seizing illegal items like guns, electronics and donated goods intended for sale.
ACE was not able to pay more than $100,000 in storage fees so, by law, Customs had to offer the boxes to public auction.
“Hindi nino-notify ng Bureau of Customs at saka ng ACE yung mga taong nagpadala. At bago nila i-auction, responsibilidad nila na i-notify yung mga tao,” stressed Bunag.
Bunag and Cachuella are worried that their clients’ boxes may have been among those auctioned. Their employees in Manila are now looking into the status of the boxes.
As ACE agents, they are liable to pay $200 per box lost to their clients.
But, they said, this is unfair. They claim ACE Cargo should be the ones responsible for the payments, not them. The two said they delivered the boxes to ACE, which should have protected them, too.
“They are responsible for the damages. But the problem is there is no longer any communication with them," Cachuella said.
Bunag and Cachuella are now in the process of filing a class action lawsuit against ACE in hopes of reclaiming their losses.
“Mayroon na kami ng referral o pagtatanong sa mga abugado dito sa bay area. Binubuo namin ang substance of the case against ACE Cargo,” said Bunag.
Balitang America contacted Tito Gonzales, the owner of ACE Cargo but they have not yet responded.
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