JEDDAH: A Filipino worker in Saudi Arabia who returned SR1.2 million that he found to the bank it belonged to early last month has been commended as a model by the Philippine House of Representatives.
Lark Michael B. Colegado, a 34-year-old ATM maintenance technician for Al-Hamrani Universal in Jeddah, was cited for “demonstrating honesty and trustworthiness” and “setting an example worthy of emulation” was Lark Michael B. Colegado. Colegado said he has yet to see the reward promised him but he is “very happy and very thankful to God for giving the strength to resist the temptation to take what did not belong to me.”
Rep. Carlos Padilla of Nueva Vizcaya province said in an e-mail that the lower house has approved Resolution No. 1500 commending Colegado.
The resolution was authored by Padilla himself, along with Rep. Rufuz Rodriguez (Cagayan De Oro) and Gabriela Party-list Rep. Luzviminda Ilagan. The lawmakers learned of the overseas worker’s remarkable deed during their visit to the Kingdom early this month.
Colegado was sent to the northern city of Tabuk to do preventive maintenance and fix an offline automated teller machine when he found a vault containing the money hidden behind the faulty machine. The ATM is located at a gasoline station.
As it turned out, the ATM was not functioning because the vault containing the money was not replaced.
Without hesitation, he called his superior, who then informed officials of a bank that owned the ATM. Colegado asked media people who interviewed him not to identify the bank, saying he has made a commitment to his superiors to keep the information confidential.
In an e-mail to Colegado, bank managers thanked him for doing the right thing.
Colegado said he has yet to see the reward promised him but he is “very happy and very thankful to God for giving the strength to resist the temptation to take what did not belong to me.”
Padilla said he and his fellow lawmakers were proud of what Colegado did as it demonstrated the good attributes of a Filipino.
The worker from the southern Philippines has become a celebrity among fellow overseas Filipino workers.
