Police are investigating if the collector of a remittance firm was at fault for an incident where millions of pesos spilled out of his backpack and into the street in Mambaling, Cebu.

Police identified the collector as John Mark Barrientos.

Mambaling police chief Major Jonathan Taneo told dzBB on Wednesday they have recovered around P2.8 million and P50,000 was returned after the incident.

Barrientos was seen in a video posted on social media Tuesday riding a motorcycle when suddenly P4 million worth of cash came out of his backpack, scattered on the Cebu South Road viaduct. Motorists were seen picking up the bills.

In an interview with dzBB, Taneo said they found from their initial investigation that Barrientos had always been putting the money in a backpack, but this was the first time he had to place a huge bulk of cash in it.

“ We are investigating if he was at fault here because he did not double-check his bag. This incident happened not just because the zipper opened by itself. The zipper flew off the bag which is why the bills were scattered on the road,” he said.

“ If we find out that the fault was on his part, we will submit our findings to the company. Then it would be the discretion of the company what type of penalty they will impose on the collector,” he added.

Taneo said the remittance company was willing to file theft charges against motorists unwilling to return the money they picked up on the road.

“We are continuously appealing to the public to head to the nearest police station to turn over the money they picked up,” Taneo said. Jaspearl Tan/DMS