Two treasure hunters arrested in Lapu-Lapu

CEBU, Philippines - Two men were arrested Wednesday in sitio Iba in barangay Basak, Lapu-Lapu city for digging for treasures without a permit from the City Environmental and Natural Resources Office. 

The Lapu-Lapu City Police Office, after receiving information from a concerned citizen, sent Task Force Kalikasan, led by SPO1 Jomar Ybanez to the place and arrested Lapu-Lapu Hemongala, 61, married, of the place and Leopoldo Bonghanoy, 40, single, of barangay Suba-Basbas in Lapu-Lapu City.

Ybañez said the deepest hole the two men had dug measured 40 feet deep, while two other holes each measured 20 feet deep.

The two men told police a British national bankrolls the treasure hunt in the area and that the digging has been going on for eight months now.

They were instructed by the Englishman to look for gold placed in a heart-shaped box believed to be buried in the area. - THE FREEMAN