how to build a balikbayan box (2025)

how to build a balikbayan box is an ongoing series that first takes shape as a collection of photographs, exploring the process and essential components need to assemble a “balikbayan” box.

Balikbayan translates to “a person returning home”, as a third-generation OFW, or batang OFW (child of an overseas Filipino worker), my relationship with the balikbayan box and concept of returning home differs from the experiences of my parents and those who came before me.

In this series, I explore how the balikbayan box acts as a physical manifestation of love—for all those left behind—offered out of obligation, duty, and care.

*this work is part of an ongoing body of work entitled ‘para sa atin’ (for us)