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His family thought they received a blessing from heaven when he found P3 million worth of dollar bills at the dumpsite in Cebu City.
But relatives of Napoleon Ursabia later realized that the blessing didn't belong to them.
They returned the money but the $60,000 was no longer intact.
July Compuesto, 26, yesterday handed over to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) the $17,000 in $100 bills that were found by his half-brother Ursabia at the sanitary landfill in barangay Inayawan, Cebu City.
When she learned that her cousin went to the NBI, Victoria Candido, 42, also turned over 35 $100 bills to barangay captain Rustico Ignacio at the barangay hall about 4 p.m. yesterday.
The $20,500 was part of the $60,000 that was placed inside a sack by a money changer in barangay Calamba, Cebu City, but was mistakenly thrown into the dumpsite.
Compuesto went to the NBI at about 3 p.m. yesterday to turn over the 170 $100 bills because he could not take it in his conscience to spend the money he did not earn.
“Bahalag mabuhi ta ug P30 sa usa ka adlaw, basta di' lang mi mo gasto og dili among kuwarta (Even if we will only live on P30 per day, as long as we don't spend money that isn't ours),” he told .
He recalled that Ursabia found the sack containing the dollar bills at the Inayawan Sanitary Landfill about 7 a.m. on Wednesday.
Ursabia showed him the wads of cash and asked him if these were authentic. Although the two had different fathers, Ursabia and Compuesto were very close.
The two brothers decided to bring the money to their house, which was located near the dumpsite.
Several people followed them to their house when they learned that Ursabia had found some dollar bills.
Compuesto said he decided to give a portion to their cousin Candido. He said he did not bother to count how much he gave his cousin. He just grabbed the bills and gave these to Candido.
According to Candido, Ursabia did not get all the money.
She said other scavengers were able to grab some bills when Ursabia opened the sack. But Ursabia got most of the money, she added.
“Nakatag na sa basurahan. Daghan ang nakakuha niana. Dili gyud na ingon nga naa ni Napoleon tanan (The money was scattered in the landfill. Others were able to get some. Napoleon did not get everything),” Candido said.
Candido said Ursabia turned over all the money to his half-brother and never asked anything for himself.
“Wala man nay libog si Napoleon,” she said. Candido said Ursabia was 19 years old and not 16 as earlier reported.
But Compuesto was restless and confused.
He went to his friend's house in barangay Bulacao because he was afraid that someone would claim the money.
“Wa' gyud ko kahibaw unsa ako buhaton ato panahona (I didn't know what to do at that time),” he said.
He added that he asked a man whom he refused to identify to convert $500 into pesos because he did not have money. While waiting for the man to return with the peso equivalent, he talked to a friend and sought his advice on what to do with the money. His friend told him that it would be up to him to decide what to do.
Compuesto made up his mind to return the money.
He went to the NBI office at barangay Capitol Site in Cebu City about 3 p.m. and handed over the money to NBI agent Gabby Hadraque.
Candido's husband Luduvio heard over the radio station that Compuesto surrendered the money to the NBI.
He told his wife, who decided to turn over what remained of the dollar bills to their barangay captain.
Candido said Compuesto gave her 60 $100 bills for safekeeping. But she asked permission from her cousin if she could use a portion to treat her neighbors. Compuesto agreed.
She went to a money changer in barangay Inayawan and converted $2,500 into pesos. At the conversion rate of P50 to a dollar, Candido received about P125,000.
Candido said she went to barangay Tabunok to buy 50 sacks of rice, several kilos of meat and bottles of beer. She distributed the sacks of rice to 600 to 700 scavengers in the landfill while the meat was cooked and served with the beer to neighbors.
“Mura lagi og nag-fiesta (It was like a fiesta),” Candido said.
Candido said she also shared a few dollars with some close relatives.
“Ang mga suod-suod nako gipanghatagan og tagsa ka buok, unya mao na gyud nay sobra (I gave a bill each to my close relatives. These are all that I have with me),” she said.
Asked why they spent the money, she replied, “Matawag man na nga hulog ng langit kay kwarta man sa basura (We considered it as blessing from heaven because we found it in the dumpsite).”
Only $3,500 was left with her but she decided to return the money because Compuesto already reported the matter to the NBI.
Besides, she said, the owner of the money could at least recover a portion of his money.
She also hoped that the owner would give them a reward.
Ben Tanpin, owner of the money changer shop in Calamba, had sought the help of the NBI after he could no longer find the sack containing the money at the dumpsite. The sack was mistaken as garbage and was placed outside his house for pickup by the garbage truck.
Candido said she admitted she did not cooperate with the NBI agents who went to the area because the money was just entrusted to her.
She said her neighbors were also afraid to give information because the NBI agents were rude.
A blotter at the Inayawan Barangay Hall showed that one Novo Blawis had complained that he was struck by NBI agent Bernard dela Cruz in the head and on the body using his gun.
Blawis said that Dela Cruz forced him to tell what he knew about the money.
went to the house of Ursabia, but a neighbor said the boy had not come home.
Compuesto said he did not know where his brother was. But he admitted that Ursabia was afraid after he learned that the NBI agents were looking for him.
“Nahadlok pud lagi, murag tua gyud ni siya sa bukid sa Bogo karon (He got scared. Maybe he is the mountain in Bogo),” Candido said.
