For returning P1M, security guard honored for honesty

SECURITY guard Noel L. Lorilla receives a certificate of commendation from the DSWD. PHOTO COURTESY OF DSWD

A Criminology graduate working as a security guard has been commended for honesty by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) in Bicol for returning more than P1 million in cash and checks left behind by a local government employee.

Noel Lorilla, 40, of Barangay (village) Sipi, Daraga, Albay province, received the certificate of citation in a simple program at the DSWD regional office in Barangay Buraguis in Legazpi City on April 13, said Arnel Garcia, DSWD regional director, in a phone interview.

Lorilla has been working at Urduja Security and Investigation Services since 2006 and assigned to the DSWD for over a year. He graduated with a degree in criminology from Bicol Colleges in 2001.

In an interview over local radio, Lorilla said he found a white plastic envelope left behind by a visitor from the local government unit (LGU) of Prieto Diaz in neighboring Sorsogon province at 6 a.m. on March 20. The envelope was on top of an office desk at the hallway.

Lorilla said that when he inspected the envelope’s contents for possible identification cards, he found P858,000 in cash and a government check for P330,000 issued by the LGU of Prieto Diaz.

Garcia said the guard recorded the find in the office logbook and turned over the envelope to a DSWD official, who confirmed its contents.

The employee had left the envelope while following up the fund release and submitting fund liquidation reports.

Garcia said the P858,000 cash was intended for the social pension of indigent senior citizens being aided by the DSWD.

The sole breadwinner in the family, Lorilla is married to Meriam, 36, with whom he has two children—Hershey, 10, and Shenna, 9.