Cotabato hotel roomboy returns P100,000

COTABATO CITY — Fearing gaba or "divine wrath," a hotel worker, who comes from a poor family, returned P100,000 in assorted bills to a female guest who had left the money underneath her bed.

Felbert Saycon, 27, together with his supervisor, Josephine Rivera, was cleaning Room 306 at the third floor of the Estosan Hotel here when he found the bundle of money under the bed of the guest, who had checked out about two hours earlier.

Joni Santos, general manager of Estosan Hotel, said it was fortunate that they found calling cards and a directory of mobile phone numbers with the money, thus they managed to contact the hotel guest right away.

The hotel guest, who was here to visit newly installed Cotabato Auxiliary Bishop Jose Collin Bagaforo, refused to be identified for security reasons.

Saycon said he never thought of keeping the money, worried that gaba or "divine wrath" might befall on him.

"Maybe God merely tested me and my supervisor on how we can stand up to the true ideals of honesty," Saycon told The STAR in the presence of his manager and co-workers.

Saycon said his family in Kalamansig, a coastal town some 160 kilometers southwest of this city, is poor, but can be trusted with money matters.

"We were raised by my mother to be honest. We only have one family name and we value it so much that we would not do anything foolish to sully it," he said.

Because of his honesty, Saycon was immediately promoted as "head roomboy" by the hotel management.