MICHAEL MEDINA
Online news editor
OZAMIZ CITY: A new bill seeking to raise the penalty for thieves of religious icons and articles is set to be filed in Congress by Camarines Sur Rep. Luis Villafuerte, information from the Mindanao Examiner website said.
"The theft of religious icons, and likewise of relics and artistic works that constitute the finest expressions of our culture, traditions and way of life, arouses national indignation. This
national indignation should find corresponding utterance in our criminal laws," the paper quoted Villafuerte through a press statement.
"This type of larceny threatens the gains we've achieved in establishing our people's links to its past. Where religious objects are stolen, it also outrages our people's sense of the sacred and the holy," Villafuerte said.
Several reports of theft concerning religious icons have been reported around the country.
In Valenzuela City, a life-size marble statue of San Antonio de Padua was stolen from the San Diego de Alcala Church. It was later returned by unidentified men, through a television network as intermediary.
December last year, The statue of Saint Michael installed in a church in Argao, Cebu lost its a 20-karat gold necklace.
A month before that, the 30-kilo, century-old bronze bell was seized from a church in Malinta town also in Valenzuela.
Also last year, a two-foot image of Saint Vincent Ferrer was taken from in Dupax del Sur, Nueva Vizcaya.
In Jimenez, Misamis Occidental, the statue of St. John the Baptist, Jesus the Ressurection, St. Joseph and the old ecclesiastical chair, all antique and more than 250 years old, were stolen by thieves along with the church chasubles and candle stands.
The icons were stolen in separate incidents--the statutes last 2002 and the chair, last 2006.
The St. John the Baptist Church in Jimenez has been declared "A national cultural treasure" by the National Commission for Culture and Arts (NCCA).
Online news editor
OZAMIZ CITY: A new bill seeking to raise the penalty for thieves of religious icons and articles is set to be filed in Congress by Camarines Sur Rep. Luis Villafuerte, information from the Mindanao Examiner website said.
"The theft of religious icons, and likewise of relics and artistic works that constitute the finest expressions of our culture, traditions and way of life, arouses national indignation. This
national indignation should find corresponding utterance in our criminal laws," the paper quoted Villafuerte through a press statement."This type of larceny threatens the gains we've achieved in establishing our people's links to its past. Where religious objects are stolen, it also outrages our people's sense of the sacred and the holy," Villafuerte said.
Several reports of theft concerning religious icons have been reported around the country.
In Valenzuela City, a life-size marble statue of San Antonio de Padua was stolen from the San Diego de Alcala Church. It was later returned by unidentified men, through a television network as intermediary.
December last year, The statue of Saint Michael installed in a church in Argao, Cebu lost its a 20-karat gold necklace.
A month before that, the 30-kilo, century-old bronze bell was seized from a church in Malinta town also in Valenzuela.
Also last year, a two-foot image of Saint Vincent Ferrer was taken from in Dupax del Sur, Nueva Vizcaya.
In Jimenez, Misamis Occidental, the statue of St. John the Baptist, Jesus the Ressurection, St. Joseph and the old ecclesiastical chair, all antique and more than 250 years old, were stolen by thieves along with the church chasubles and candle stands.
The icons were stolen in separate incidents--the statutes last 2002 and the chair, last 2006.
The St. John the Baptist Church in Jimenez has been declared "A national cultural treasure" by the National Commission for Culture and Arts (NCCA).
In 2004, Ozamiz Archbishop Jesus Dosado declared the Jimenez church as the "Heart of the Archdiocese."
A relic of St. Faustina Kowalska, Poland is ensconced in a sanctuary inside the church. MOre than a thousand devotees come and visit the church during Divine Mercy feast every second Sunday of Easter and on October, the feast day of St. Faustina.
Villafuerte, in commenting about the thefts, said that: "Our heightened sense of history and national identity has not been without adverse side effects. One of the most dep
lorable is the pilferage of religious icons and cultural artifacts by felons who have found a lucrative market in equally rotten traders in these objects."
He added the proposed higher penalty is justifiable on the following grounds: The unlawful taking of objects from churches, temples and museums, demonstrates a higher degree of perversity on the part of the offenders.
"Churches, temples and museums are open to the public and the objects usually stolen from them are openly displayed. These places are often unguarded since strict security measures are incompatible with their very nature, not to mention that they are not financially equipped to provide an elaborate security system."
"Thus, it is easier to gain access to the valuable objects in these places; and the preservation of religious and cultural heritage embodied in religious statues and cultural objects and artifacts is a matter of national and public interest."
WITH REPORTS FROM THE MINDANAO EXAMINER
Villafuerte, in commenting about the thefts, said that: "Our heightened sense of history and national identity has not been without adverse side effects. One of the most dep
lorable is the pilferage of religious icons and cultural artifacts by felons who have found a lucrative market in equally rotten traders in these objects."He added the proposed higher penalty is justifiable on the following grounds: The unlawful taking of objects from churches, temples and museums, demonstrates a higher degree of perversity on the part of the offenders.
"Churches, temples and museums are open to the public and the objects usually stolen from them are openly displayed. These places are often unguarded since strict security measures are incompatible with their very nature, not to mention that they are not financially equipped to provide an elaborate security system."
"Thus, it is easier to gain access to the valuable objects in these places; and the preservation of religious and cultural heritage embodied in religious statues and cultural objects and artifacts is a matter of national and public interest."
WITH REPORTS FROM THE MINDANAO EXAMINER