LOST ART Rene Hofileña, administrator of Hofileña Museum in Silay City, Negros Occidental, on Saturday points to the nail where the 12-inches-by-18-inches Fernando Amorsolo painting used to hang before it was stolen on July 3. —Carla P. Gomez
BACOLOD CITY, NEGROS OCCIDENTAL, Philippines — Mayor Joedith Gallego of Silay City in Negros Occidental has dangled a P25,000 reward for any information that could lead to the identification and arrest of the persons who stole a valuable painting by national artist Fernando Amorsolo from a private museum in the city.
Gallego, in an interview on Sunday, said he hoped that the amount would help authorities locate the persons involved in the theft inside a museum ran by one of the affluent families in Silay City.
READ: Amorsolo painting stolen from museum
The police are currently following up leads on at least two persons who disguised as tourists to steal the 12-inches-by-18-inches “Mango Harvesters” Amorsolo painting from Hofileña Museum at Cinco de Noviembre Street in Silay City on July 3.
The museum, a 1934 stone house owned by the Hofileña family, contained the private collection of the late Ramon Hofileña, an art collector known in Negros Occidental as the father of heritage conservation. It was declared a heritage house on April 6, 1993, by the National Historical Institute and has been opened to the public for tours.
Hofileña, who was 87 years old when he died on July 29, 2021, first opened his family’s ancestral house to visitors in 1962, the first heritage house in Silay City to be opened to the public. The museum holds his collection of more than 1,000 pieces of art—from paintings to antiques, sculptures and engravings, including the stolen painting, which was one of the early works of Amorsolo who painted it in 1936.
Amorsolo, who was born in 1892 and died in 1972, was named the country’s first national artist for painting in 1972 and is recognized as the “Grand Old Man of Philippine Art.” Paintings by national artists like Amorsolo are considered important cultural properties that are protected under Republic Act No. 10066, an act providing for the protection and conservation of the national cultural heritage.
Authorities did not say what was the current value of the stolen painting but it could run to “millions of pesos.”
Group’s modus
Lt. Col. Mark Anthony Darroca, Silay police chief, said they have two persons of interest who were not from Silay City and were believed to be part of a group that had also carried out “salisi” operations in Bacolod City.
“We are coordinating with the Bacolod police,” he said in an interview on Sunday.
“Salisi,” which literally means “occurring by turns,” is a theft operation that usually involves at least two or more individuals, who will distract the intended victim or security personnel while one carries out the theft.
A closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage at the museum showed that two persons—a male and female, who joined a tour of the museum, stole the painting. The male took the painting off the wall of the museum and placed it in the bag of the woman.
They both had face masks on. But based on CCTV footage they gathered, Darroca said the woman was “mestiza looking” (Filipino-Caucasian) and in her 40s, while the male thief was in his 30s.
Police investigators were back-checking more CCTV footage from various establishments in the area and from the museum to further determine the identities and activities of the thieves.
Darroca said the thieves hurriedly boarded a “trisikad” (bicycle with sidecar for passengers) to the Silay public plaza where they took a public utility jeep bound for Bacolod City.
The police had taken the testimonies of the drivers of the vehicles they rode on.
“The Silay police are coordinating with other police stations in the province and in other parts of the country to track down the suspects,” Darroca said.
Those who may have any information on the missing painting are urged to call the Silay police at 0998-5987443 or 0998-9674432.