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BACOLOD, Philippines – A painting of the late national artist Fernando Armorsolo that was stolen from a private museum in Silay City, Negros Occidental, had already been recovered in Manila by a team from the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).
Colonel Rainerio de Chavez, director of the Negros Occidental Provincial Police Office (NOCPPO), confirmed the news to Rappler on Friday afternoon, July 12, saying members of the Hofileña family who were based in Manila had already reclaimed the stolen art piece.
The buyer-turned-suspect, said De Chavez, had also been charged for violation of the Anti-Fencing Law. Police, however, still withheld the name of the arrested suspect.
De Chavez said he had already ordered Colonel Mark Anthony Derroca, chief of the Silay Component City Police Station (SCCPS), to go to Manila and coordinate with the NBI regarding the case.
“We want to know how the stolen painting was traveled from Negros Occidental to Manila, and how the nabbed suspect bought it,” the NOCCPO chief said.
“We also need to know who sold the painting or who were those who stole it from the Hofileña Museum in Silay,” he added.
Entrapment operation
The NBI Special Task Force (NBI-STF) had already arrested two individuals in Quezon City for selling the stolen Amorsolo painting on Thursday, July 11, a press statement from the agency said.
NBI Director Jaime Santiago said the NBI-STF received information that a certain “Atty. Ching” was selling the Amorsolo painting in Quezon City.
The subject, he said, was willing to bring the stolen painting to an interested buyer but at the price of P3.5 million.
Upon learning, Santiago and his team hatched an entrapment operation.
On Thursday, operatives proceeded to the target area in Tomas Morato, Quezon City, where the selling of the Amorsolo painting would take place.
There, two subjects identified as Ritz Chona Ching and Donecio Somaylo delivered the Amorsolo painting, as instructed by “Atty. Ching.”
Upon confirmation that the painting brought by the subjects was the stolen Amorsolo painting, NBI-STF operatives arrested Ching and Somaylo for violation of Presidential Decree No. 1612 or the Anti-Fencing Law. The suspects were then presented for inquest proceedings before prosecutors.
Meanwhile, the National Museum of the Philippines, also in a statement on Facebook, said Director-General Jeremy Barns was able to personally inspect the painting and assured the NBI that it was indeed the stolen painting. He issued a certification to this effect at the request of the NBI.
The 1934 Amorsolo painting titled “Mango Harvesters” that measures 12×18 inches is owned by the Hofileña family in Silay.
It was acquired by the late Ramon Hofileña, dubbed as the “father of heritage conservation” in Silay City; thus, it costs millions of pesos nowadays.
The theft was reported by Reñe Hofileña, the younger brother of Ramon and the sitting manager of the museum, to the SCCPS and City Tourism Office on July 3.
On Monday, July 8, Reñe said their family had hired a private detective to locate the painting. They also asked the assistance of the NBI. – Rappler.com
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