Operation Homecoming - A New Name for Filipinos

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Marcos passed the 1974 labor code to encourage Filipinos to move abroad. The law basically secured overseas contract work by establishing recruitment agencies. But only if they went abroad with the sole purpose of sending money back to the Philippines. Marcos gave these people coming home a new name: Balic Bians.

This time of year, right in the middle of the holiday season, there's a beloved, frenzied tradition playing out in Filipino households all around the world, with which reporter Gabrielle Berbey is intimately familiar. A Balikbayan box is a huge cardboard box (often weighing over 100 pounds) that Filipinos living all over the world send to family members who are still living in the Philippines. The word Balikbayan literally means homecoming in Tagalog.

Balikbayan Boxes