Honest deeds continue to thrive in the Character City.
In a matter of one week, a security guard and a merchandiser of a mall, including an unnamed taxi driver have been added to the growing list of Baguio residents who received kudos for their ho-nesty, choosing to live with a clean conscience over enriching themselves out of lost and found valuables.
On Aug. 25, 28-year-old Rodney Visperas of the Saber Alpha Security Agency was at his regular post as security guard at the entrance of SM City Baguio supermarket inspecting bags of customers entering the grocery, when a merchandiser from the desserts section called his attention about a bag placed among the goods at the rice section near the entrance.
He immediately went to the rice section thinking somebody might take the bag and will not be returned to its owner. As part of his agency’s protocols, he inspected the contents of the bag and found another bag the size of a lunchbox, which when he checked contained several bundles of cash in P1,000 denomination.
Without any thought other than to follow the procedure, Visperas brought the bag to the mall’s Customer’s Service (CS) section.
After surrendering the lost and found bag to a CS section representative, the details of its discovery were entered in their logbook, and there he learned it contained a total of P600,000.
An hour later, while on his break, Visperas was informed that a customer inquired at the CS section if they saw a lost bag and was later verified as the bag’s owner.
It was not the first time Visperas, originally from Mangaldan, Pangasinan, to find lost items, but it was the first time he found one with such an amount of cash.
In all instances, he said it has never occurred to him to keep the money or others’ possessions for himself.
“Sa akin, pagkabukas ko ng bag, nakita ko may pera, hindi ako nagdalawang-isip, dahil bahagi ng trabaho ko ang ibalik sa may-ari ang mga naiwang pera ng customer o anumang bagay na naiiwan. Malay natin, ang perang ‘yun ay gagamitin pang-ospital o sa negosyo. Mahalaga ‘yun sa may-ari,” Visperas said, adding his reputation as trustworthy employee of his agency, for him, is more valuable than keeping things he should not own.
On another occasion, the City Public Order and Safety Division reported on its official social media account another cab driver turned over on Aug. 27 a bag containing valuable items to the POSD which he found in his vehicle.
In the post, the POSD said the bag found by the unnamed driver of SNZR taxi contained a tablet, a mobile phone, IDs, and a wallet containing a substantial amount of cash.
The taxi driver turned over the bag and its contents to a POSD enforcer posted along Magsaysay Avenue, who brought the items to the POSD office.
The bag was later claimed by its rightful owner. Netizens who praised the deed through their comments in the POSD post said indeed, taxi drivers in Baguio are honest and hoped these taxi drivers returning left items on their passenger seats will continue to increase. – Hanna C. Lacsamana