The Balic Bion Box

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The word Balic Bion literally means homecoming in Thavallog. More than 10 million Filipinos live abroad, and over a million more leave the country every year. Mothers sending to sons, brothers, sisters, hundreds of thousands of people waiting for their box. The reason Filipino travelers line up in the airport to wrap 100-pound plus Balic Bions is because they often live oceans apart from one another.

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