The Cebu Provincial Board (PB) has approved a resolution authorizing Gov. Gwen Garcia to file appropriate case against the National Museum of the Philippines officials for refusal to return the stolen pulpit panels to the Archdiocesan Shrine of Patrocinio de Maria Santisima in the southern town of Boljoon.
The resolution, authored by PB Member Andrei Duterte and co-authored by PB Member Stanley Caminero, also authorized the governor to include in the filing of the case any person who kept the panels after it was stolen.
Built in 1793, the Boljoon Church or the Archdiocesan Shrine of Patrocinio de Maria Santisima was declared a national treasure in 2001.
In front of the church’s pulpit are six panels that were carved in the 19th century depicting the images of Saint Leo the Great, St. Thomas of Villanueva, St. Ambrose of Milan, St. Gregory the Great, and St. Augustine of Hippo.
Sometime in 1980, the six panels were reported to have been stolen from the church.
Recently or four decades later, four of these panels were found under the custody of the National Museum. It was later learned that the Boljoon panels were in the custody of spouses Edwin Riego Bautista and Aileen Beltran Bautista who donated it to the National Museum of the Philippines.
The Sangguniang Bayan of Boljoon sought the return of the panels to their town church through Resolution 2024-340. The Sangguniang Panlalawigan of Cebu also issued Resolution 436-2024 seeking the same intention about the return of the panels to the Boljoon church.
On Feb. 26, 2024, Gov. Garcia sent a letter to the National Museum of the Philippines urgently requesting for the return of the panels. However, the National Museum has not responded to the letter.
(𝑇𝑒𝑥𝑡 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑃ℎ𝑜𝑡𝑜𝑠 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑉𝐺 𝐷𝑎𝑣𝑖𝑑𝑒'𝑠 𝐹𝑎𝑐𝑒𝑏𝑜𝑜𝑘 𝑃𝑎𝑔𝑒 | 𝐽𝑇𝐺/𝑃𝐻𝑂𝑇𝑂𝑆 𝐵𝑌 𝑆𝑉𝐸𝑁 𝐴𝐿𝐸𝐺𝐴)