Owner of P300,000 turns up in Bulacan

BALIUAG, Bulacan—Too many people turned up to claim the P300,000-cash 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 owner.

Edgardo Patawaran, village chief of Barangay (village) San Jose here, said the barangay office would be releasing the amount to Norma de Belen, owner of a tire shop, who claimed 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 related that 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 bills so she turned them over to Patawaran.

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.—Carmela Reyes-Estrope