CEBU, Philippines – The National Museum of the Philippines (NMP) has told Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia it would return in March the four pulpit panels reported stolen from the heritage church of Boljoon in southern Cebu.
Garcia told Rappler in an interview Thursday night, January 16, that she was informed about the decision by the NMP Board of Trustees (BOT) earlier that day.
Even if the panels are returned, however, Garcia said the cases against officials of the NMP will continue. “The ship has sailed,” she told Rappler Thursday night.
Garcia also raised suspicions on whether the NMP has duplicated the panels and would be returning replicas, citing the absence of any witnesses from Cebu on the restoration work.
Garcia announced Monday that she would file graft complaints against NMP Director General Jeremy Barns and violation of the Anti-Fencing Law against Barns and the art collector couple Edwin and Eileen Bautista, who donated the panels to the NMP.
The Archdiocese of Cebu has authorized Garcia as governor of Cebu province to represent the church in its pursuit of the return of the Boljoon panels.
Members of the NMP BOT met the day after the announcement of filing of the complaints and decided to return the panel in March, sources told Rappler.
The NMP BOT had previously decided to return the panels to Cebu during its board meeting last May 8, 2024 “subject to certain terms.”
When she was asked last Monday whether she would drop the cases once the NMP decides to return the panels, Garcia answered “the damage has been done.”
The governor said that Barns never answered the the letter sent by Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma rejecting the proposed one-year loan of the 5th panel currently at the parish museum and setting conditions before work on the four panels were to start.
The NMP proceeded with restoration work despite the absence of an agreement that Palma said was a precondition, The NMP also had the restoration done in Manila and not at an on-site lab to be set up in Boljoon as requested by Palma.
Father Brian Brigoli, chair of the heritage commission of the archdiocese, expressed concern that the four panels would look new after restoration and incongruous with the 5th panel.
The four panels with the NMP are part of a set of six that used to adorn the pulpit of the Archdiocesan Shrine of the Patrocinio de Maria Santisima. Four were reported stolen in the late 1980s. One is still at the parish while another is still missing, Garcia made a public call for whoever is holding the 6th panel to return it soon and no charges will be filed. – Rappler.com