Tugade gives honest men at airport bear hugs and checks

Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade at a recent Meet Inquirer Multimedia forum. (Photo by YUJI VINCENT GONZALES/INQUIRER.net)

Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade showed his appreaciation for three honest men by giving them bear hugs and checks on Thursday.

The three men had returned a total of some P1 million in cash left behind by passengers at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia).

Tugade’s was so grateful that he also promised free hare lip treatment for one of the men.

He tagged as heroes taxi driver Antonio Infanta, wheelchair attendant Rizalde Ocde, and security guard Alfredo Baldosa Jr.

At first, Tugade was thinking of meeting the three men in private – not in front of media cameras.

But he decided against it, saying in Filipino: “It’s better that your good deeds are recognized to show they bear fruit. That kindness begets only good things.”

He assured Infanta he would be receiving free treatment for his hare lip at the Asian Hospital and Medical Center.

Tugade explained that the doctor who would be treating Infanta had heard of his good deed and offered his services for free.

On Jan. 19, Infanta returned a sling bag containing P220,000 in cash to a Cebu-bound passenger who left the bag in his taxi.

Two days later Ocde turned over a sling bag containing $11,000 (almost P550,000) which he had found left behind by an Iloilo-bound passenger at the Naia Terminal 3 initial security screening X-ray scanner.

It resulted in 27-year-old Mary Jane Gane’s recovery of her belongings from the Manila International Airport Authority lost and found section.

On Tuesday morning security guard Baldosa found and turned over a pouch bag containing $5,500 (almost P275,000) at the taxi unloading bay at the Naia Terminal 3 departure area.

After handing out checks – the amounts on which the secretary asked to be kept secret – Tugade gave each man a bear hug, saying he was really touched by their honesty.

As the transportation secretary and the three men posed for cameras with President Rodrigo Duterte’s trademark fist gesture, Tugade directed a statement to the the chief executive, in Filipino: “Boss, we have honest people here. This is for you.” /atm