Honesty - a rarity

Published by the Visayan Daily Star Publications, Inc.

NINFA R. LEONARDIA Editor-in-Chief & President

CARLA P. GOMEZ Managing Editor ANTONIETA B. LOPEZ Business Editor ODETTE MONTELIBANO Desk Editor MARY ANN BARCELONA Advertising Coordinator RENE GENOVE Bureau Chief, Dumaguete

ANDRES R. LEONARDIA Managing Director

We do not want to be killjoys or cynics as we view the administration's response to the act of two Filipinos, one a 16-year-old high school student, and the other a police officer, who displayed honesty and a sense of values so rare in our country nowadays.

The other day, President Arroyo met at the Palace teenager Cristina Bungayong, and Senior Police Inspector Dominado Arevalo to congratulate them for exemplary acts of honesty. Cristina had found P300,000 and had never thought of keeping the money, but looked for ways to return in to its owner. In the same way, Sr. Inspector Arevalo had also found cash, some P150,000, and also returned it to its owner.

This was not the first time Arevalo had performed such admirable act. His co-workers have confirmed that he had also found - and returned - various amounts in the course of his work, and had always looked for the rightful owner to return it. That shows that his honesty is ingrained in his system, that he has been brought up to respect such traits and uphold them.

In the case of Cristina, the reports on her case showed that, since she could not find the owner right away, she had to bring the money home and tell her family about it. It is to the credit of the Bungayongs that, poor as they are, it never occurred to them to keep the cash for themselves. To them there was no question of holding on to what was not theirs. That is the way they are.

We mentioned killjoys because, despite our having the rare Bungayong and Arevalo among us, we still admit that they are out of the ordinary, not the typical Filipino. For why should the President, and the whole country, hold such a celebration over the fact that a girl, or a cop, is not a thief, and cannot be tempted to be one, even if the opportunity falls into their hands? It is a pleasure to honor these two, but somehow, our doing so only underscores the fact that honesty and righteousness are unique and not matter-of-fact traits innate to us all.*