Honest soldier returns wallet with P70,000

COTABATO CITY — For Army Pfc. Ramcy Ruado Jr., honesty is what makes a professional soldier.

Ruado returned yesterday a wallet containing almost P70,00 in cash and paychecks, which he found under the table in a restaurant in Midsayap, North Cotabato Wednesday.

The owner of the lost wallet, medical salesman Benjamin Leparto, immediately showed up at the office of radio station dxMS after listening to the radio station‘s repeated calls for him to claim his wallet.

"I have resigned to the belief that I can’t get my wallet back. Thanks God there is one honest soldier who found it and brought it to dxMS," Leparto told The Star.

Ruado, who belongs to the 6th Division Artillery Regiment based in nearby Sultan Kudarat town in Maguindanao, said he stepped on something under the table as he was about to eat in a restaurant.

"I placed it on top of the table thinking that its owner might return and see it. But after waiting for several hours, no one came to claim it so I decided to bring it to dxMS so they can call on the owner to claim it," Ruado said in Tagalog.

Lt. Gen. Hermogenes Esperon Jr., commanding general of the Philippine Army, said he is still uncertain if he can work out the promotion of the 20-year-old Ruado to corporal but he will see to it that he gets a written commendation for him to be honored as an honest soldier.

"I’m proud to have a soldier like Ruado in the ranks of the Philippine Army. He has exemplified honesty and devotion to work as a public servant," Esperon told The Star via mobile phone.

Ruado, son of Sgt. Ramcy Ruado, of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, said it was his belief that he would get a "big reward" from heaven for every gesture of honesty that prompted him to return the wallet to its owner right away.

Ruado said his father, a member of the 6th ID’s Service Battalion, has inculcated in him and his siblings the value of honety and the importance of protecting one’s name and reputation to win the respect of others.

"If there is respect, there is trust and confidence. To sully one’s name is so easy, to gain the trust and confidence of others is so difficult. In the end, it is always beneficial to sacrifice and work hard to earn the respect and trust of others," Ruado said. —  John Unson