Honesty coffee shop is one of a kind store located in Ivana, Batanes. What makes it unique and a tourist spot is that, it is unmanned and always open, allowing customers to just come in, to freely roam around or even stay for awhile, to get and enjoy whatever they want, and after listing all the items they have taken, pay its total equivalent price by dropping their money in the payment box.

Obviously then, Honesty coffee shop is called as such because inside of it, customer’s honesty is put into test – whether they will or will not abide with the rules which are written and hanged on the wall, and most especially, whether they will or will not pay the exact amount of the items they have taken.

By the way, here are the rules in the coffee shop:

Self-service only
Get what you need
Pay for whatever you need
If you have no change, knock at the next door
If no one answers, sorry you give more than the price
Always remember “Honesty is the best policy”

How did the Honesty coffee shop started then? Elena Gabilo, after retiring as teacher, founded and opened this shop in year 1995 and when the nearby port (port of Radiwan) closed and the store sales went down, since then she decided to concentrate on farming and left the store unattended (but still in operation).

But despite of having no keeper, the shop still survived and has been operating successfully for already 19 years. All through those years, the innate honesty of the Ivatan’s has been proven. Yes, there are some people who don’t drop their payment, but according to Morbid Angel’s Lair blog, it’s all okay with the owner. Aling Elena’s ultimate profit is the chance to awaken her customers’ consciousness to honesty and responsibility and to teach them to live these lessons in the other areas of their lives.

Honesty coffee shop is indeed amazing and one best example for us to ponder that there are still many Filipinos who are honest.

^ _^ God bless you all ^_^