ILOILO City – An honest taxi driver returned a lost pouch containing P16,000 and an employment contract owned by his two passengers who were overseas contract workers.
On Jan. 17 at around 9 a.m., Cleo Tolentino, 28, and Frolan Barcelota, 34, returned to Iloilo for a vacation. They hailed a cab from a hotel going to Barotac Viejo town.
Upon reaching home, Tolentino realized that she left her black pouch inside the taxi. The pouch contained P16,000 cash and her Hong Kong employment contract.
Luckily, her fiancée, Barcelota, was taking selfies outside of the cab when they stopped in Anilao town for a bathroom break. In one of the selfies, the nameplate of the taxi was captured in the background.
The couple immediately went to the police station not because they doubted the honesty of the driver but because they wanted to speed up the retrieving of their lost valuables.
Upon reaching out to D’Fourth Taxi, the couple found out that driver Victor Sinoro, 48, already turned over the pouch to his manager.
The couple retrieved their valuables from the honest driver yesterday at Panay News Complex in Barangay Maliao, Pavia town.
According to Tolentino, they were grateful for the honesty of Sinoro as without her employment contract, she wouldn’t be able to return to Hong Kong.
In his five-year employment in D’Fourth Taxi, Sinoro had returned dollar bills and cellphones that were accidentally left by passengers inside his cab unit.
Sinoro said his honesty came from his fear of the Lord. He also believed honest brings blessings tenfold./PN
