2 tricycle drivers lauded for turning over lost-and-found P25,000 cash, checks

KIDAPAWAN CITY, North Cotabato, Philippines – Two tricycle drivers returned a bundle of cash worth P25,000 and checks they found by the roadside here on Friday.

Gaudencio Canania and Eugene Canes told the Catholic-run Radio dxND that they found the bills and the checks as they were plying Villamarzo St.

“These were scattered by the roadside,” Canania said.

He said they decided to pick the bills and the checks. The bills alone totaled P25,000.

Canania said he and Canes never thought of dividing the cash between them.

Instead, they headed to dxND and endorsed the find to the station management.

“I cannot afford to keep the money and use it in buying food for my family. With that amount I could have rest for at least a week but my conscience would not allow me to keep it,” Canania added.

Canes, on the other hand, credited his family’s upbringing for not showing any interest in keeping the find.

“I immediately thought of turning it over to those who might be of help so that it could be returned to the owner,” he said.

The station’s management – led by Edwin Fernandez, a senior correspondent for the Philippine Daily Inquirer – contacted the local traffic management group for assistance.

It turned out that the cash and checks belonged to the Asset and Credit Loans Inc., a private money lending firm here. Roel Asotique, manager of the company, had since retrieved the find.

Councilor Ruby Padilla-Sison, also a former dxND worker, said she was elated by the virtue shown by the two tricycle drivers.

“I was amazed upon knowing that there are still a few good Kidapaweños who have the value and principle of returning what is not theirs. These tricycle drivers are worthy of emulation,” Padilla-Sison said.

“The value of returning is an exemplary virtue. Even if they have less in life, they have proven that the spirit of honesty remains in their hearts and minds,” Sison added.

She said the two tricycle drivers would be formally recognized for their honesty on Thursday, during the regular session of the Sangguniang Panlungsod (City Council).

Padilla-Sison said a small monetary reward has also been readied for Canania and Canes.

The two drivers will be presented before city hall employees during the regular flag ceremony on Monday (May 26), according to Mayor Joseph Evangelista.

Evangelista said the mayor’s office would give the two drivers some amount as a token of appreciation for what they did.

“I hope that their tribe will increase. We need more persons like them. Despite being poor, they did not hesitate to return what did not belong to them,” Evangelista said.