DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS 
P R E S S  R E L E A S E
www.dfa.gov.ph                                                                             2330 Roxas Blvd., Pasay City, Philippines                                                                        Tel. No. 834-4000 

SFA-AGR-729-07                                                                                                                                                                   

AMBASSADOR BELEN ANOTA COMMENDS HONEST OFW FOR RETURNING MISSING WALLET WITH S$16,000

24 September 2007 – On 18 September 2007, Philippine Ambassador to Singapore Belen Fule-Anota personally met and commended a Filipina waitress who returned a wallet containing S$16,600 (US$11,000) that was left behind in the lavatory of a mall in the city-state.

On 15 September 2007, Mrs. Marites Perez Galam, a mother of four and head waitress at the Imperial Herbal Restaurant in Singapore , found the wallet in a common toilet near the restaurant inside VivoCity mall. Without hesitation, she said she immediately gave the wallet to the restaurant’s manager who reported the found item to the mall’s management.

The wallet’s owner, an Indonesian lady, claimed it less than two hours later. She said she and her husband had saved the money for the medical treatment of their son, who urgently needed an ear surgery.

Mrs. Galam said the Indonesian lady and her family thanked her profusely and even offered to reward her, which she refused to accept. She said that she returned the money without expecting anything in return, and that it was enough that she was doing the right thing for someone who needed help. Her manager, however, promised to make her employee of the month and give her a modest cash incentive.

Ambassador Anota cited Mrs. Galam for her honesty and for being a role model for the 130,000 Filipino workers in Singapore and the millions of OFWs worldwide.

“You have shown that the Filipino worker is not only diligent, reliable, but also honest and worthy of trust and confidence. Through your selfless act and for upholding the values we hold dear as a people, you have made us proud to be Filipinos,” Ambassador Anota told Mrs. Galam during the latter’s courtesy visit to the Embassy.

Mrs. Galam’s act of honesty received prominent coverage in two major Singapore dailies—Shin Min Daily News (17 September issue), a major Chinese newspaper, and The New Paper (19 September issue), a major English tabloid in the city-state.  END

 

 

 

 

 

/esgret


(Home)