ART HEIST Measuring 12 inches by 18 inches, “Mango Harvesters,” a painting by National Artist Fernando Amorsolo from 1936, has been reported stolen from the Hofileña Museum in Silay City, Negros Occidental. Security cameras showed the painting being taken by two visitors around 10 a.m. on July 3. —images from the Leon Gallery website/Carla P. Gomez
BACOLOD CITY — The Silay police have identified one of the two suspects in the theft of a painting by national artist Fernando Amorsolo from the Hofileña Museum on Cinco de Noviembre Street in Silay City, Negros Occidental.
Lieutenant Colonel Mark Anthony Darroca, Silay police chief, said the male suspect was identified by the driver of the trisikad that he and his accomplice boarded after stealing the 12×18 inches “Mango Harvesters” painting on July 3.
Darroca said the male suspect took off his mask when he boarded the trisikad, enabling the driver to identify him from a police rogues gallery.
Darroca said the suspect, a resident of Tondo in Manila, was charged with theft in a separate incident in 2022.
The female suspect, on the other hand, had not been identified yet as investigators gathered other closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage to establish her identity.
The female suspect was wearing a mask as shown in the CCTV footage of her at the museum.
The two suspects disguised themselves as tourists who joined a tour on July 3 at the Hofileña Museum.
The male suspect took the Amorsolo painting from where it was hanging and placed it in the woman’s bag as shown in the CCTV footage at the museum.
They then hurriedly left the museum, took a trisikad to the Silay plaza, and boarded a public utility jeepney to Bacolod.
Darroca said he would meet with the Hofileña family to ask if they were willing to file charges against the suspect.
Rene “Boy” Hofileña, the museum administrator, said he was waiting for his nephews and nieces to arrive on Tuesday as they would be the ones to make the decision.
They also hired a private detective to investigate the theft in broad daylight of the Amorsolo painting.
Negros Occidental Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson said he instructed the police to do everything possible to recover the painting.
“Definitely, we would like to recover that very valuable piece of art. We are banking on the expertise of the Philippine National Police on how to trace the possible suspects,” he said.