Illegally taken from Boljoon Church: Palma seeks panels’ return

CEBU, Philippines — The Archdiocese of Cebu wants the immediate return of the four Boljoon town church pulpit panels that are currently in the possession of the National Museum of the Philippines, calling its “illegal removal” a “sacrilege.”

This, as Capitol consultant Benjamin Cabrido, Jr., a lawyer, reminded the public that buying a stolen item is a crime.

And while he did not say and could not confirm that the panels were stolen, Palma, in an interview with The Freeman, said that they were “removed without permission from the Local Ordinary at the time, my predecessor, His Eminence Ricardo J. Cardinal Vidal.”

He said no official records also exist, be it in the Archdiocesan Archives or in the Chancery Office, of any request from Fr. Faustino Cortes, the parish priest at the time when the panels went missing, requesting approval to deconsecrate them for removal, much less convey them to third parties in exchange for money for the parish.

“The Code of Canon Law no. 1284 states that all administrators, referring to the Parish Priests, are bound to exercise vigilance so that the goods entrusted to their care are in a way not lost or suffer damage. Neither would this have been approved, knowing that these panels are sacred objects of the church, where for centuries, Augustinian friars delivered sermons to the faithful,” Palma said.

Last Feb. 16, Cebu Governor Gwen Garcia called for the return of the panels, after the NMP announced their donation to the national government by private collectors.

“While we understand the National Museum's desire to exhibit the same to the general public, we have to assert the sacral nature of these panels. They are integral to the patrimony of the church as part of her missionary work and thus considered sacred. Their illegal removal constitutes a sacrilege,” Palma also said.

“They should never have been treated, then or now, as mere artworks for exhibition in museums, much less for private appreciation by the collectors who purchased them. For these panels are considered in the ecclesial rite as tools of evangelization,” he added.

With this, the Archdiocese of Cebu asserts its ownership of these panels and requests their immediate return to the Boljoon church.

“Kini dili lang panel, bahin ni sa atong pagtuo, bahin sa expression sa liturgy kay diha sa pulpito, dili lang kini ingon nga as if ordinaryo nga treasure, it is very important, in relationship sa proclamation of the faith kay diha man sa pulpit,” Palma said.

He already sent a sent a formal communication to the NMP concerning the return of the pulpit panels.

The archbishop said he welcomes a constructive dialogue with the NMP like what had been expressed by the governor.

“It is also my ardent hope that a proper venue for constructive dialogue be provided so as to meet the befitting terms of the parties concerned,” Palma said.

Cabrido, though, reminded that buying properties acquired either through theft or robbery could be a crime punishable under Presidential Decree 1612 (Anti-fencing Law).

He said this in reaction to NMP’s statement that it is exercising “dynamic ownership” of the four pulpit panels, which illegally disappeared from Boljoon church in 1989.

“There is no such thing as dynamic ownership because ownership cannot be transferred through theft or through robbery. Even if they will say that we bought these from this person, it will not change the character of that thing and make it a valid object in a contract of sale,” he said.

“There was no point in the dynamic transfers of these four artifacts that would convert it into a legal object. Since it was an illicit object, it is illicit all throughout,” he added. — Rowena Capistrano (FREEMAN)