CEBU CITY - One man’s trash is another’s treasure, the saying goes.
That proved to be true for scavengers Rodrigo Corta, Antonio Quizon, and Eda Montecalvo, who found close to P2 million worth of gold jewelry in the trash heaps of the dumpsite in Barangay Umapad, Mandaue City last week.
But as the finders began selling the jewelry, Mandaue City policemen recovered the valuables believed to have been owned by a Chinese-Filipino businessman.
By the time the police recovered the items, about P500,000 worth of jewelry were left. Some had been pawned.
Inspector Ramil Morpus of the Mandaue City Police Office (MCPO) Theft and Robbery Section told reporters Thursday the police confirmed the case after Cabancalan Barangay Chief Martin Cosido called him up about the matter.
Dumped
Cosido, said Morpus, reported the jewelry, allegedly amounting to P2 million, was found in trash picked up by their barangay’s garbage truck last January 12.
Cosido believes these were stolen items and asked the MCPO Investigation and Detective Management Branch (IDMB) for help.
Morpus and his team then went to the dumpsite and sought the three scavengers, who immediately turned over what was left of the jewelry they found.
Morpus and his men recovered two gold bracelets, a gold necklace with pendant, two gold rings, a pawnshop receipt, and P36,500 cash left from the proceeds of a pawned bracelet.
Based on the testimony of the scavengers, they found the valuables out of sheer luck.
Broken box
Corta, in an interview Thursday, said he, Quizon and Montecalvo were combing through the trash around 4 p.m. last January 12, when the garbage truck from Barangay Cabancalan arrived and dumped its load of trash.
While Corta was searching through the garbage heaps, he stepped on a broken box.
It turned out to contain two gold rings, two gold bracelets, and a gold necklace, he said.
As Corta showed the items to his fellow scavengers, Quizon and Montecalvo also found two more gold bracelets each. Montecalvo found a plain gold necklace, while Quizon found a bracelet studded with diamonds.
Corta, 55, said finding such valuables in the trash was rare, especially in that quantity.
“Swerte gyud to siya. Dibuenas gyud gikan sa ginoo (It was luck, a blessing from God),” Corta said.
After taking the jewelry home, Corta decided to pawn one of the bracelets to see how much he could get for it.
Thank you
But since he didn’t know how to pawn jewelry, he sought the help of scrap dealer Bernardo Baylon.
Baylon learned the bracelet was worth at least P127, 000.
After he got the money, Corta gave Baylon about P16,000 to thank him for his help.
When the police arrived to recover the items, Baylon immediately gave up his share.
Corta, however, reportedly spent much of the amount buying drinks and food for his fellow scavengers and neighbors.
He also planned to have his small house fixed. Located near the Butuanon River, it had been damaged by recent floods.
For wood, cement, sand and steel wires, he spent an estimated P14,000.
When the police came, his plans to have his house fixed had to be tossed out the window.
Though still smarting from what happened, Corta said he had no choice but to accept the turn of events.
“Wala man tay mabuhat kay naa may nag-angkon (I can’t do anything about it, now that someone else has claimed ownership),” he said.
Safekeeping
Unlike Corta, Quizon waited for someone to claim the jewelry, instead of pawning it.
“Wala nako giprenda ang alahas, kay gatuo gyud ko nga naa’y tag-iya nga mangita ani (I didn’t pawn it because I had a feeling the owner would come looking for it),” Quizon, 48, told Sun.Star Cebu Thursday.
Montecalvo, on the other hand, was not in the dumpsite when reporters looked for her.
Morpus said that when he interviewed Montecalvo, the 24-year-old scavenger told him that she had pawned the bracelet she found for P15,000. She spent part of the money on a nebulizer to help her son deal with asthma attacks.
Morpus said a man’s name was engraved on a gold class ring, which was among the pieces the scavengers turned over. They thought it belonged to a businessman in Barangay Cabancalan.
But when Morpus called up that family, the wife told him they hadn’t lost anything valuable recently.
For now, the recovered items are still in the possession of the Mandaue City Police Office. If no one claims it, said Morpus, the pieces will be turned over to the Mandaue City Government, and it will be up to City officials to decide what to do with the jewelry. (Sun.Star Cebu)
There are no comments yet