The foreign trainor at a multinational company’s workshop held at the Mount Malarayat Golf and Country Club in Lipa City, Batangas late last year got quite a pleasant shock when, upon checking out at the club’s new hotel, he received an envelope from the front desk clerk containing over a thousand pesos. He was told that the money was found in the pockets of some clothes he had sent to the laundry, and the laundry attendant had turned it in to the office to be returned to him.
This man, an Australian, was so appreciative of this simple act of honesty that he promptly told his principals in the Manila office, who in turn called the club’s management to commend this act, which they said sealed the positive impression of this first-time visitor to the Philippines who has consequently listed this as one of his favorite countries to visit.
Management searched out the housekeeping staff involved and decided to present them with awards during the staff Christmas party. When they did so, it turned out to be such a pleasant surprise for them to learn that this was hardly an isolated incident. Stories of staff finding and returning all kinds of things–from cash to cell phones to jewelry, even guns–to guests, sometimes even going out of their way to search out the owners, were apparently fairly regular occurrences.
By a fortunate string of circumstances, we got wind of this and, with the help of management, rounded up these not-so-ordinary people who make us proud and who uphold the positive reputation of the Filipino.
It does seem like people get careless when they’re relaxed and at leisure. Such must be the reason why there have been so many instances of wallets and bags, watches, cellphones and jewelry left behind in the dining areas, washrooms, locker rooms, and guest rooms.
Locker attendant Freddie Castillo says, "Sa loob ng walong taon kong pagtratrabaho dito sa Club Malarayat, di na mabilang ang mga gamit ng mga members at guests na naiiwan (In my eight years here at Club Malarayat, I cannot count the number of things left by members and guests)." Among the jewelry, wallets, cell phones, clothes and shoes left in the lockers, Freddie recalls a wallet with wads of dollars left in a locker that he traced to have been used by a balikbayan brother of a member; it was more than a week before the member returned to claim the wallet from the locker manager.
Despite personal financial need, locker attendant Jeremy Nolos resisted the temptation to simply keep the items he finds. "Kung iisipin mo, maliit na bagay para sa kanila," Jeremy says, "pero ayaw kong mangyari sa akin na ako ang mawalan (These may have been insignificant items, but I wouldn’t want it to happen to me)." He once went out of his way to chase after a member who had already left the locker room and was about to leave the club, just to return a cellphone, drawing admiration from the member’s companion. "Nawikaan pa ako ng kasama niya na napakabait daw ng empleyado ng Malarayat (His companion complimented Malarayat employees)," he says. "Natuwa din naman ako kasi proud ako na taga Mt. Malarayat ako (I was happy because I’m proud to be with Malarayat)!"
"Mapagkakatiwalaan (Depend-able)" is how one member described Malarayat staff when ladies locker attendant Hilda Villaluz returned a set of gold jewelry left on a bench. "Ang laking tuwa niya," says Hilda, "at pasasalamat sa akin (She was so happy and thankful)."
Sometimes though such acts of honesty are not appropriately appreciated. Extra waiter Albert Matibag got a curt "Thank you very much" from the leader of a group of Koreans when he ran after them to return an envelope filled with peso and dollar bills. Head waiter Bebot Comia found a bag during a routine check of the Golfers’ Lounge after lunch. He looked inside for information on the owner, whom he then called to report about the left bag. When the owner claimed the bag the next day, he showed Bebot an envelope with what he said contained P57,000, and told him–hopefully in jest–"kung wala raw ’yon magtago na ako sa pinanggaligan ko (if that had been missing I’d better go into hiding)".
It is therefore perhaps more prudent for staff to turn over found items to their supervisors or managers. Bag drop attendants Niño Cosico, Louie Silva and Fernando Carillo did just that when they found a bag that yielded P120,000 in cash, a passport and other documents during the St. Andrews Tournament held at the club. Likewise a bag that contained a 9mm rifle and ammunition left during a tournament sponsored by a leading pharmaceutical company, a bag belonging to a Japanese member with different currencies, a camera and a cellphone. All these were turned over to the different division managers to be given back to the owners.
Food service attendant Bong Capuz did the same, although he knew the owners–prominent members–of bags he found with lots of money (P40,000 and P29,000 plus jewelry respectively). Pool attendant Allan Piol vacuumed up an earring which, it turned out, the owner didn’t even remember losing at Malarayat.
Room attendant Eva de Torres repeatedly found cash and items of clothing in a guest’s room, all of which she returned. When she ran after him to give back a pair of sweat pants he had left behind upon check out, the guest congratulated her and told her it was all a test–and she had passed with flying colors!
Even in the vast expanse of grounds of the 27-hole course, away from any supervisor’s watchful gaze, the staff stand by their integrity. Irrigation technician Jaime Formentera found an envelope with P21,000 in cash when he was watering the green of Hole No. 3 of the Makulot course, and returned it to the owner, whose name was on the envelope and who turned out to be a contractor for the Active Group, developers of Club Malarayat. Orcelito Tablo found a cellphone while working on the plants. Bernardo Gaspe found golf clubs and club covers left on the grounds.
When these incidents and many others came out during the Christmas party and the division managers, as well as golf director and assistant general manager Mike Carr, were asked why they never reported such good deeds, they explained that all of them were simply doing their jobs–being honest is what they should be doing and is not something that should be treated as behavior out of the ordinary.
It’s easy enough to justify keeping something one chances upon, for after all, "finders keepers" is a common and accepted principle. However, giving back something one finds is the higher road, honesty the nobler path–and we are all uplifted by these simple acts of honesty.