KABAYAN, Benguet June 10 – Passing on the integrity and credibility of their family untainted in the present and to the future generations is far more important rather than enriching oneself through the hard earned money of others, said Ryan Guinoran during an interview Tuesday, the 21-year old famer from sitio Babadac, barangay Bashoy here who, together with his companions, voluntarily returned the close to P1 million in cash and valuables to the owner.
Guinoran, who is a high school graduate and who helps his family earn a living through farming within the Mount Pulag forest reservation, said it did not come to his mind to take the P812,138 in cold cash and other valuables inside the bag when he saw it properly arranged and seemed to have been newly taken from the bank.
“We do not want to be frequently bothered by our conscience if we decided not to return the money, especially when we saw that the owner of the lost bag was popular in Kabayan town. We preferred to return it because we still believe that having our name untainted would be the best legacy to be left to our family members and relatives in the future,” Ryan, the third among seven children of spouses Mencio and Aurie Guinoran of Babadac, Bashoy, added.
He narrated that his family’s jeep was hired by a neighbour, Rhey Manuel, 50, a farmer from their place, to bring his harvest to the La Trinidad vegetable trading post last Saturday and while on their way back home to their place, Rhey reportedly saw a black back at the right side of the Bokod-Kabayan road while they were traversing the same after it was visibly seen when lighted by the vehicle. This prompted him to stop and properly position his vehicle in order to be able to see the contents of the bag.
While they were looking into the contents of the bag, both Ryan and Rhey were surprised to see the huge amount in various denominations and various mobile phones and valuables in the bag, including the identification cards and passbooks of Rose Langbis Techap.
According to him, it was when they were initially counting the money in front of the head lights of the jeepney that several persons on board a motorcycle, including Arjill Sanchi, 19, a criminology student of the University of Baguio (UB), arrived in the area and inquired what was going on. The duo informed them of what happened and continued to count the bundles of money as they decided that they will return the recovered items to the owner.
After several minutes, Guinoran saw the mobile of the Benguet Provincial Public Safety Company (BPPSC) under the stewardship of PO3 Ariel Langaoan arrive in the area that allowed them to flag down the same and report the matter to the law enforcers.
Ryan, who was not able to pursue a higher degree of education because he was no longer interested to do so and aggravated by the inadequate resources of the family, said the law enforcers conducted an inventory of the cash and valuables in front of them and that it was at that time that Arjill’s companions reportedly left them doing the inventory right on the side of the road and within the darkness of the night with the vehicle lights providing illumination in the area.
He cited they will not regret having returned the money and valuables to the owner, Rose Techap, because the difficulties in life that they are experiencing will not be a justification for them to own what is not theirs which might result to bad luck to their family members and relatives once they decided to take the money as their own.
Ryan urged today’s youth to put to action honesty in their dealings with other people because it will be the one that will help establish the integrity and credibility of their respective families and which the present and future generations could be proud of their honest acts.
Ryan’s elder sister, Jieamie is a college graduate while his older brother Renei was also not able to pursue a higher degree of education. His younger brothers Ronel and Ruel are also helping the family in their farming activities. His younger sister Grace is in Grade VIII while their last child Karen is in Grade VII.
He said he is satisfied with the way his life is going on at the moment and while his family needs additional resources, he will not go to the extent of taking the property of others just to improve the living condition of their family, but he has to work double time in order to help provide his family’s basic needs and to help bring his younger brothers and sisters to school for them to acquire their desired decent education.
By Dexter A. See