Collector who lost cash at SRP says P1.9M still missing

Cash was scattered along the Cebu South Coastal Road at the SRP after a collector’s bag opened along the viaduct.

CEBU CITY, Philippines — A total of P58,600 cash was returned to police stations here as of Thursday morning, July 6, 2023, from the money that fell out of the bag of a collector at the South Road Properties (SRP) last July 4.

The recent amount that has been turned over to the police was P10,700 on Thursday dawn, Patrolman Glendale Cabañero of the Mambaling Police Station confirmed to CDN Digital.

Collector John Mark Barrientos lost around P4 million when the zipper of his bag opened while he was traversing the northbound lane of the Cebu South Coastal Road at the SRP on Tuesday afternoon, July 4.

READ MORE: P4 million in cash flies out of bag in SRP, collector pleads finders to return money

Since Tuesday, P58,600 was returned to different police stations. On Tuesday, P21,150 was returned, P10,200 was collected on Wednesday morning, P3,050 was collected on Wednesday evening, and P10,700 was collected on Thursday at 12:09 a.m., at the Mambaling Police Station. At the Carbon Police Station, P13,750 was returned on Tuesday.

The collector managed to recover P2,000,083 on the day he also lost some cash.

So out of the almost P4 million he lost, P2,058,683 has been recovered. This means P1,941,317 has yet to be returned.

Police Major Jonathan Beethoven Taneo, chief of Mambaling Police Station continues to call on those who picked up some of the money to return it to the nearest police station.

READ MORE: Only half of P4 million cash lost at SRP recovered 1 day after incident

The chief said on Wednesday that they are tracing the identities of those who picked up the money scattered on the CSCR. If the individuals identified still refuse to return the money, they could face legal action, the station’s police chief said.

Barrientos said he did not notice that the zipper of his bag suddenly opened until a driver who was tailing him, chased him near the SRP gate of the Cebu-Cordova Link Expressway and told him about what happened.

There, Barrientos found out that the zipper of his bag was no longer functioning, which resulted in the cash pouring out onto the road.   /rcg and bmjo

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