2 Cordillerans recognized for extraordinary acts of honesty

LA TRINIDAD, Benguet --  Two Cordillerans - a vegetable trader  and an airport cleaner were recently recognized for their extraordinary acts of honesty.

On Thursday, La Trinidad Mayor Romeo Salda awarded a certificate of recognition and other tokens to Alice Baguitan, a resident of Barangay Pico, for displaying extraordinary honesty. 

Baguitan, a 37 year-old mother of two,   went viral over the internet  after she  returned to the owner  P 2.7 million cash  which she found inside a restaurant in Laoag City, Ilocos Norte .

 Baguitan, who went to Laoag City to deliver vegetables from La Trinidad, said she was eating at a fast food restaurant on   August 7 when she noticed a bag left behind by two female customers who left in a hurry.

 She opened the bag and she was surprised that it was filled with a large amount of cash. She immediately   went outside the restaurant but the women left already.    

 She reported the incident to the police. Then she remembered the conversation of the two ladies which she overheard that they were going to bus terminal. She proceeded to the bus terminal, and there she saw the   women and   gave them the bag.

 Baguitan said the owners offered a reward money but she refused to take it.

 “I did not receive the reward since I believe that as a Christian, I just did the right thing and I believe that God rewards me with more blessings,” Baguitan in vernacular.

This was not the first time Baguitan found and returned a large sum of money.  Last year in Laoag City also, she also found a pouch left by a passenger in a tricycle which contained P750, 000.00 which she also returned to the owner.

Baguitan, a native of Bauko, Mountain Province, was praised by netizens and her fellow Cordillerans for showing an extraordinary act of honesty and not accepting any reward.

Salda said that “the extraordinary acts of honesty by Alice Baguitan is a true act of a Cordilleran and is worthy of emulating and be proud off.”

 The La Trinidad Sangguniang Bayan has also filed a resolution commending her for serving as inspiration and pride to the whole La Trinidad community.

Meanwhile, an honest airport cleaner from Abra returned 7,300 Euro or P430, 000, a wallet and an iPad to its Turkish owner on August 10, 2019.

Sixto  Brillante Jr. found a bag containing cash and other items at the male comfort room at the Manila International Airport Authority while cleaning the facility. Brillante immediately tried to locate the owner through the airport paging system and the bag was subsequently turned over to the Lost and Found Section of the Intelligence and Investigation Division of the MIAA.

A Turkish passenger  after going through the verification process, was determined to be the rightful owner of the bag. 

 “Mr. Brillante could have easily kept the bag and favorably benefitted from what’s inside it, but he chose to surrender it. I admire him for his integrity. Hearing stories like this makes us Filipinos proud,” MIAA Manager Ed Monreal stated.

The airport chief encouraged airport workers to always practice the virtue of honesty in any situation that may call for it.

“Doing good should never be an option. It must be a way of life for all of us,” Monreal said. (JDP/RMC- PIA CAR)