BI officer returns money left by ex-BIR chief at NAIA

MANILA, Philippines - An immigration officer at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) will be commended today for returning $1,000 left behind by former Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) chief Guillermo Parayno Jr.

Gianne Kryzl Wahayna will receive a letter of commendation during today’s flag ceremony at the Bureau of Immigration, BI officer-in-charge Siegfred Mison said yesterday.

Wahayna was hired last January, underwent training from February to April, and assigned to NAIA starting in April.

Wahayna reported that on Sept. 11, minutes after she processed the papers of Parayno, who was about to leave on a Philippine Airlines for Washington via Toronto, she noticed that he had left the cover of his passport, which contained his electronic ticket and money.

She said she looked for him and asked the airline to page him. When she saw Parayno and handed him his money, the former BIR chief was thankful.

“I was just doing what an honest public servant is supposed to do,” Wahayna said.

Wahayna is one of about 300 new employees recruited under a process designed to ensure that the “padrino” system was not a factor in their selection, Mison said.