Honest Mandaluyong cop returns P53,702 in cash

A policeman returned intact yesterday the P53,702 he found on a drunken Taiwanese medical student who fell asleep Wednesday night on the 3rd floor of a shopping mall in Mandaluyong City.

"I love Philippines," exclaimed Ralph Yen, 22, after receiving his knapsack, with its contents intact, from PO1 Nestor Tanedo, of the Mandaluyong City Sub-Station 4.

Yen, a second year medical student at the Fatima School of Medicine in Valenzuela, was found asleep on the third floor of the SM Megamall Building B at 9:20 p.m. Wednesday.

Superintendent Jose Gentiles, Mandaluyong City police chief dispatched Tanedo to the scene to see if Yen, who used his knapsack as his pillow, was a victim of the notorious Ativan Gang. The gang drugs their victims to steal their valuables and cash.

Gentiles said when Tanedo inspected the knapsack, he found bundles of money in pesos, Taiwanese and New Zealand currencies, diskettes and Yen’s passport and identification card.

When he regained consciousness, Yen told Tanedo that he went to the mall to buy computer diskettes. When asked why he slept in the walkway, Yen shrugged his shoulders and broke into a smile.

Police said Yen smelled of liquor and could have fallen asleep on the walkway.– Non Alquitran