MANILA - An airport janitor returned a belt bag containing over $4,000 in cash left behind by a Filipino-American balikbayan at the airport comfort room of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).

Airport janitor Bobby Duarte, 31, receives a monthly salary of P12,000, but it never entered his mind to keep the $4,400 cash he found.

The cash, found inside a belt bag, is owned by 71-year old balikbayan Reynaldo Domingo Bautista, one of the arriving passengers of Philippine Airlines flight PR105 from San Francisco on Thursday morning.

Airport police Corporal Reynon Flores, head of the Lost and Found Section of the Intelligence & Investigation Division, said that aside from cash, they found Bautista's personal information and contact number which they used to get in touch with him.

Duarte, in an interview with ABS-CBN, said he tried to locate the belt bag's rightful owner by using the public address system of NAIA Terminal 1 but nobody replied.

"Nakauwi na po ang lahat ng pasahero kaya po dinala ko na ang belt bag sa Lost & Found Section ng MIAA," Duarte said.

For his part, Bautista said he only found out that his belt bag was missing when he got the call from the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA). He went to the comfort room where Duarte is assigned to personally express his gratitude.

Dante Basanta, NAIA Terminal 1 manager, said he will recommend to the MIAA Praise Board the airport janitor for his exemplary honesty.

"Hindi po ako mayaman subalit hindi naman po ako pinababayaan ng Diyos sa lahat ng aking kailangan," Duarte said.