If you lose your purse or wallet containing a huge amount of cash, we’re sorry to tell you but you probably aren’t going to see that again – the wallet or the money!
But one overseas Filipino worker (OFW) got the surprise of her life when her wallet was returned after 7 months, with all her money intact.
Marilyn Vallada of Nueva Ecija worked in Japan. Upon arrival at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Termina 2 last November, she went to the toilet before heading home. In her excitement to get back home, she left her wallet inside the toilet.
Sadly, she only discovered the loss when she arrived home! Marilyn’s wallet contained Php93,000 worth of money, in pesos and in yen.
With so many reports of luggage theft and similar problems at the airport, Marilyn lost hope that she would ever get that wallet back, much less the money inside.
So, she was rather surprised when she received a call from someone at the airport that they had been trying to find her for the past 7 months! Whoa. Can you believe that?
It turned out that the wallet didn’t have an ID that bore Marilyn’s contact details; thus, when the wallet was turned over to the Lost and Found section of the NAIA, no one could call her to inform her about the item.
When the OFW didn’t claim the wallet at the Lost and Found counter, the staff did their best to find her. For the months that followed, the staff tried all means they could to find Marilyn and returned her hard-earned money.
The staff found a break when they inquired at the Philippine Airlines (PAL) ticketing office. Marilyn bought her tickets from PAL. Using data from the airline, they were finally able to reach the OFW.
NAIA Assistant General Manager Arnulfo Junio personally turned over the wallet to Marilyn who was overjoyed to get her wallet back, with her money intact.
