LUCENA CITY––Police arrested Monday four men who broke into a Catholic church and stole donation boxes containing money in Lian town in Batangas province.
Lian police reported that the suspects, John Rafael Jonson, 20; Juan Bautista, 23; and two minors, forcibly entered the closed Saint John Baptist Parish Church at the town center by climbing the second-floor balcony.
The burglars then escaped with eight donation boxes containing money. They destroyed the boxes just a few meters away from the church and took the cash.
Church authorities discovered the robbery around 8 p.m. and reported the incident to the police, who immediately dispatched operatives, who were able to identify and arrest the suspects.
The police recovered P19,270 in different denominations from the suspects.
The suspects were detained and are facing criminal charges.