BAYAMBANG—Honesty as a virtue is being reinforced by the Bayambang government among its employees by establishing an “honesty store” inside the municipal hall after opening stores in eight schools in the town.

 Valentine Garcia of the Bayambang Poverty Reduction Action Team (BPRAT), said the honesty store is a social experiment that aims to encourage honesty among the town’s residents. 

The honesty store features products with price tags but no seller is assigned to the area and buyers simply deposit their exact payments inside in a sealed box.

The income from the store will be used to supplement the regular feeding program at the Stimulation and Therapeutic Activity Center, Garcia said.

BPRAT head Dr. Joel Cayabyab said prior to the opening of an honesty store at the municipal hall, eight honesty stores were established in selected schools to intensify values formation among children by promoting the value of honesty and teach students basic financial management.

 “We thought of replicating the Batanes honesty store. It’s like hitting many targets with one stone, as we will teach the children about honesty, basic numeracy, and some will be trained on management of the store,” Cayabyab told The PUNCH.

Each pilot school was given P10,000 as seed capital.

 At the end of the school year, the municipal government will acknowledge who succeeded in doubling the initial PHP10,000 capital and will be rewarded with an incentive.

The store at the the Bayambang National High School (BNHS) is run by the Supreme Student Council. (Helen Martin)

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