NAIA immigration officer returns $10,000

MANILA, Philippines - What would you do if you find a folder with $10,000?

Amando Amisola, 37, an immigration officer at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 1, was stationed at the special departure counter at around 11:15 a.m. yesterday when a family of four Filipinos bound for Canada had their passports stamped. Shortly after they left, another passenger called his attention to a folder left on the counter, which he discovered contained $10,000.

He followed the passengers to the pre-departure area, and told Patricio Francisco that the money he left was at the airport immigration office. Francisco, his wife, and two children were about to board a Cathay Pacific flight.

Francisco “was surprised and almost hugged me for joy because the money is a family fund for their visit to Canada,” said Amisola, himself a father of three.

Amisola said that when he first saw the money, he first thought of his mother, a stage four cancer patient due for another confinement. He decided to return it anyway, telling himself that if he found the family who owned the money, he would return it, but “if they had left already, maybe the money was meant for me.”

Immigration supervisors Rosario Teano and Yolanda de Lucas said Amisola, who had been working at the NAIA for only eight months, should be cited for his honesty.