Post by LATAGAW on Sept 19, 2005 16:02:40 GMT 8
[glow=red,2,300]More church icons identified
By Cebu Daily News
MORE people are trooping to the Cebu Provincial Police Office in Sudlon, Barangay Lahug in an effort to identify religious artifacts stolen from their respective churches.
Sisters-in-law Conchita and Princesita Dabucol identified a statue of the Baby Jesus Christ and the pairs of hands of Sta. Monica, Sta. Dolora and Mother Mary from among the artifacts confiscated by police from Rory Bacus, a dealer of antiques.
Conchita and Princesita, who arrived at the police headquarters at around 10 a.m., have been working as maintenance employees and decorators of the Sta. Monica Parish in barangay Cauayan, Dalaguete for almost 20 years.
They told Cebu Daily News that the items were stolen from the parish on Oct. 14, 2002.
They said that the statue of the Baby Jesus was detached from the left chest of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel when the robbers broke into the church last year.
The sisters-in-law showed a picture of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel without the statue of the baby Christ.
The robbers also removed the hands of the three other statues including that of Sta. Monica, the parish patron saint, she said.
Ching said the artifacts had been in the parish since it was built in the 1950s.
Ching and Princesita said they were certain these were the statues taken because they have been taking care of the statues for so long.
Ching said the discovery of the items particularly the hands of the parish patron saint is a welcome development because the parish is scheduled to celebrate its fiesta on May 3 and 4.
She said they would request the police for permission to bring the hands of Sta. Monica so they could use it during the procession of the patron saint.
At around 1 p.m. Tuesday, three devotees from Sitio Bas, Barangay Perillus, Carcar also identified the image of San Vicente Ferrer as the one that was stolen on Oct. 24, 2002 from San Vicente Ferrer chapel.
The image was the patron saint of the chapel, devotees Silvina Francisco, Josefina Roldan and Angelica Tanod-Tanod told Premne. The three said they could clearly identify the image because they have long been devoted and praying for help to San Vicente.
Senior Insp. Bienvenido Premne, chief of the provincial police intelligence branch, said they needed a court order to release any of the icons as this formed part of the evidence against Bacus and the perpetrators.
He said the identification of the items from Dalaguete town and Carcar "are big factors in the building of a case against the suspects."
Senior Insp. Bienvenido Premne, chief of the provincial police intelligence branch, led the raid on the house of Bacus on Bontores Street, Barangay Basak-San Nicholas (not Barangay Mambaling as earlier reported) last Monday based on a search warrant issued by executive MTCC Judge Francisco Seville Jr.
Police seized a total of 282 artifacts.
The church items included 158 icons, 15 crucifixes, 15 assorted heads of statues, 63 hands of icons, seven antique angels, four communion patens, six crowns, four assorted robes, six bronze chalices and four candle holders.
Bacus, in a phone interview Tuesday, estimated the confiscated artifacts to be worth about 500,000 pesos. He however could not identify which ones were the most expensive.
Police already have the names of the men who reportedly sold the icons to Bacus. Premne said they would be investigated.
Last Friday, police scored a breakthrough when they seized 10 religious artifacts in Mandaue City from two men who later pointed to Bacus as the owner.
Bohol officials were the first to identify four images they said were stolen from a Bohol church last March 5.
Tuesday marked the first time Cebu-based parishioners identified and claimed ownership of "stolen" artifacts.
Several Cebu parishioners visited the provincial police earlier to take look at the artifacts or the pictures of the church items taken by police in Bacus' house in an effort to find their lost valuables.
Lawyer Edmund Villanueva, chair of the Boljoon Heritage Foundation visited the police headquarters last Monday and said that an image in the picture looked similar to the image of 200-year-old Sta. Rita, which disappeared from the town church.
Villanueva asked for still pictures and video footages of the icon from Boljoon so he could be certain.
Several parishioners from Bohol and Leyte have claimed several religious items.
Premne, however, said that for the claimants to prove ownership of the artifacts they had to show a police blotter showing the loss, pictures of the stolen items, affidavits of the caretakers and identification marks.
After proving ownership of the stolen artifacts, Premne said they would also ask the claimants to issue an affidavit that could be used in the filing of appropriate charges against Bacus and his cohorts. Jovy Taghoy with Jhunnex Napallacan
P.S:
Palihug kug relay sa message sa mga simbahan diha sa Bohol nga gikawatan ug mga rebolto o estatwa.
[/glow]
By Cebu Daily News
MORE people are trooping to the Cebu Provincial Police Office in Sudlon, Barangay Lahug in an effort to identify religious artifacts stolen from their respective churches.
Sisters-in-law Conchita and Princesita Dabucol identified a statue of the Baby Jesus Christ and the pairs of hands of Sta. Monica, Sta. Dolora and Mother Mary from among the artifacts confiscated by police from Rory Bacus, a dealer of antiques.
Conchita and Princesita, who arrived at the police headquarters at around 10 a.m., have been working as maintenance employees and decorators of the Sta. Monica Parish in barangay Cauayan, Dalaguete for almost 20 years.
They told Cebu Daily News that the items were stolen from the parish on Oct. 14, 2002.
They said that the statue of the Baby Jesus was detached from the left chest of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel when the robbers broke into the church last year.
The sisters-in-law showed a picture of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel without the statue of the baby Christ.
The robbers also removed the hands of the three other statues including that of Sta. Monica, the parish patron saint, she said.
Ching said the artifacts had been in the parish since it was built in the 1950s.
Ching and Princesita said they were certain these were the statues taken because they have been taking care of the statues for so long.
Ching said the discovery of the items particularly the hands of the parish patron saint is a welcome development because the parish is scheduled to celebrate its fiesta on May 3 and 4.
She said they would request the police for permission to bring the hands of Sta. Monica so they could use it during the procession of the patron saint.
At around 1 p.m. Tuesday, three devotees from Sitio Bas, Barangay Perillus, Carcar also identified the image of San Vicente Ferrer as the one that was stolen on Oct. 24, 2002 from San Vicente Ferrer chapel.
The image was the patron saint of the chapel, devotees Silvina Francisco, Josefina Roldan and Angelica Tanod-Tanod told Premne. The three said they could clearly identify the image because they have long been devoted and praying for help to San Vicente.
Senior Insp. Bienvenido Premne, chief of the provincial police intelligence branch, said they needed a court order to release any of the icons as this formed part of the evidence against Bacus and the perpetrators.
He said the identification of the items from Dalaguete town and Carcar "are big factors in the building of a case against the suspects."
Senior Insp. Bienvenido Premne, chief of the provincial police intelligence branch, led the raid on the house of Bacus on Bontores Street, Barangay Basak-San Nicholas (not Barangay Mambaling as earlier reported) last Monday based on a search warrant issued by executive MTCC Judge Francisco Seville Jr.
Police seized a total of 282 artifacts.
The church items included 158 icons, 15 crucifixes, 15 assorted heads of statues, 63 hands of icons, seven antique angels, four communion patens, six crowns, four assorted robes, six bronze chalices and four candle holders.
Bacus, in a phone interview Tuesday, estimated the confiscated artifacts to be worth about 500,000 pesos. He however could not identify which ones were the most expensive.
Police already have the names of the men who reportedly sold the icons to Bacus. Premne said they would be investigated.
Last Friday, police scored a breakthrough when they seized 10 religious artifacts in Mandaue City from two men who later pointed to Bacus as the owner.
Bohol officials were the first to identify four images they said were stolen from a Bohol church last March 5.
Tuesday marked the first time Cebu-based parishioners identified and claimed ownership of "stolen" artifacts.
Several Cebu parishioners visited the provincial police earlier to take look at the artifacts or the pictures of the church items taken by police in Bacus' house in an effort to find their lost valuables.
Lawyer Edmund Villanueva, chair of the Boljoon Heritage Foundation visited the police headquarters last Monday and said that an image in the picture looked similar to the image of 200-year-old Sta. Rita, which disappeared from the town church.
Villanueva asked for still pictures and video footages of the icon from Boljoon so he could be certain.
Several parishioners from Bohol and Leyte have claimed several religious items.
Premne, however, said that for the claimants to prove ownership of the artifacts they had to show a police blotter showing the loss, pictures of the stolen items, affidavits of the caretakers and identification marks.
After proving ownership of the stolen artifacts, Premne said they would also ask the claimants to issue an affidavit that could be used in the filing of appropriate charges against Bacus and his cohorts. Jovy Taghoy with Jhunnex Napallacan
P.S:
Palihug kug relay sa message sa mga simbahan diha sa Bohol nga gikawatan ug mga rebolto o estatwa.
[/glow]