BOC-NAIA District Collector Ricardo Belmonte handed over the amount to Bernardo Tanyag Bawiin Sr. in a simple ceremony yesterday.
"I would want to go back to the US and announce and share to everyone the good deeds and efforts of the Bureau of Customs people and the Filipinos as a whole. It makes me feel proud of Filipinos," Bawiin said.
It was learned that his cash, contained in a white envelope, was found by Customs examiner Norieta Abarintos after passengers of Philippine Airlines Flight PR 105 flying from Manila to San Francisco, California went through the Customs lane she was manning in the morning of April 30, 2004.
Despite seeing no identification markings on the white envelope, Abarintos promptly tried to page the owner of the abandoned white envelope, but got no claimants.
After waiting for hours, Abarintos then proceeded to declare her discovery of the envelope containing the considerable amount of cash to Carmelita "Mimel" Manahan-Talusan, NAIA Arrival Customs chief, who coordinated with PAL, the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) and the local media to locate the rightful owner of the envelope.
Bawiin, now a US citizen and residing in San Francisco, happened to read a news article about Abarintos’ find late last year.
Last week, he came back to Manila and promptly contacted the NAIA-BOC to claim the envelope that he had lost.
Belmonte, for his part, commended all the BOC-NAIA frontliners, led by Abarintos, for discharging their duties with the highest degree of professionalism and providing honest and excellent public service to all arriving passengers.