Mall worker who made honesty a habit honored

MICHAEL Mungcal (left), 42, customer relations supervisor of SM Olongapo City, gets a certificate of commendation from Olongapo City Mayor Rolen Paulino on June 28. ALLAN MACATUNO/INQUIRER CENTRAL LUZON

OLONGAPO CITY—A mall employee in this city was commended by local officials for returning a wallet containing a check for P500,000 and P2,894 in cash which he found inside the mall’s cinema on June 14.

Michael Mungcal, 42, a customer relations services supervisor at SM Olongapo City, was given a certificate of commendation by Mayor Rolen Paulino during the flag-raising ceremony on Monday at the Rizal triangle covered court here.

Aside from the check and cash, Mungcal, a resident of Barangay Magsaysay in Dinalupihan, Bataan province, also turned over to SM management office an iPhone 6 he found on the hallway of the mall’s supermarket on June 4.

“In these times of financial crisis and where morals are outplayed [by] love or greed for money, seldom can you find the likes of Mr. Mungcal,” Paulino said.

Mungcal said he has no interest in keeping things that do not belong to him.

“The first thing that came to my mind when I found those things was that the owners needed them. It didn’t cross my mind to keep someone else’s belongings for myself,” Mungcal said.

The city has been running the “Honesto” campaign, which recognizes honest people in the city who return lost valuable items and money.

In previous months, mall security guards and drivers were cited for their honesty after returning lost items to the city government. Allan Macatuno, Inquirer Central Luzon