No ‘finders keepers’ for jewels found in city dump

CEBU CITY—The saying “finders keepers” didn’t hold true for three workers who found pieces of gold jewelry worth about P2 million at the Mandaue City dump on Jan. 12.

Days after they stumbled on the treasure, the three—Rodrigo Corta, Antonio Quizon and Eda Montecalvo—found that it was not theirs to keep.

The three were digging for usable materials in the dump when they found boxes that turned out to contain the jewels—three gold bracelets, a gold necklace with pendant and two gold rings.

With the help of scrap dealer Bernardo Baylon, Corta pawned one of the bracelets for P127,000. Corta gave P16,000 to Baylon, treated neighbors to food and drinks and bought materials to repair his shack.

Montecalvo told police she sold another bracelet for P15,000.

The celebration, however, was short-lived. Envious neighbors reported the windfall to authorities on Jan. 17.

Insp. Ramil Morpos, of the Mandaue police theft and robbery section, said the three turned over to police the pieces of jewelry except for the bracelets that had been pawned or sold.

Corta, according to Morpos, returned P36,500 and a pawn receipt. Baylon returned P16,000.

The identity of the jewel owners surfaced on a gold University of San Carlos (USC) 1962 class ring that bore the name Vicente H. Tan. Police found Tan was, indeed, a graduate of USC.

Pieces of information started to match after the name was found. The three finders said the pile of trash that yielded the jewels came from Inday Dried Mangoes, a mango processing firm owned by the family of Tan.

Senior Supt. Noel Gillamac, Mandaue police chief, said the Tans were initially unaware that they had lost the valuables.

Inocencio dela Cerna, lawyer of the Tans, said the family at first didn’t know they had lost the pieces of jewelry when Vicente’s wife and children were cleaning the upper floor of their house.

When they found boxes eaten by termites, they decided to burn these and throw them into garbage sacks that were later collected and brought to the dump, said Dela Cerna.

The boxes turned out to be containing the jewels, said the lawyer. Gillamac, however, said the Tans still have to prove ownership. According to Dela Cerna, the Tans didn’t plan to sue the three finders.