Owner of P300,000 found by boys turns up

BALIUAG, Bulacan, Philippines—Too many people turned up to claim P300,000 found by two boys employed by a neighborhood junk shop, but the mystery was finally solved on Saturday when a tire shop operator proved she was the money’s real owner.

Edgardo Patawaran, head of Barangay San Jose here, said the barangay office would be turning over the money to Norma de Belen, owner of a tire shop, who said she lost the money when it fell from her bag on Tuesday night.

The money was turned over to barangay officials by the junkyard staff.

Jonathan Sumbisi, 12, and Agustin Bayo, 9, found the money near De Belen’s shop. The boys said they were shocked to find P500 and P1,000 bills, which they turned over to their employer, Neneth Osados.

Osados said she was also uncomfortable about keeping the money, so she turned it to Patawaran.

The find drew the attention of a national television network because of speculation that the money might have been part of the loot from a robbery.

But Patawaran dismissed this. He said they had confirmed that the money belonged to De Belen because her details matched the report given by Sumbisi and Bayo.

Patawaran said they did not entertain the claim made by a Metro Manila resident, who also reported losing P300,000.

The barangay officials’ task now is to make sure the money is intact because of talk in the neighborhood that some people who handled the P300,000  pocketed a few bills.

Patawaran said they heard so many fishy stories from people who claimed to have lost P300,000.

The money has been placed under the custody of the Baliuag municipal government, and would be returned to De Belen as soon as Patawaran returns from an out-of-town trip, the Inquirer was told.