Stolen Amorsolo recovered; NBI nabs 2

The search for the 88-year-old painting by National Artist Fernando Amorsolo stolen from a family-run museum in Negros Occidental ended in Quezon City on Thursday with the arrest of two persons who offered the masterpiece in the art market for P3.5 million.

At a press briefing on Friday, National Bureau of Investigation Director Jaime Santiago said they set up an entrapment to arrest the suspects—Ritz Chona Ching Castro and Donecio Somaylo Escobia—who delivered the 12×18-inch painting “Mango Harvesters,” which was stolen from Hofileña Museum in Silay City on July 3.

READ: Ramon Hofileña, father of heritage conservation in Silay City, dies at 87

Santiago said the NBI special task force received information that a certain “Atty. Ching” was selling the Amorsolo painting in Quezon City.

The NBI agent, who posed as a buyer, was able to buy the 1936 painting for P3.5 million at a cafe on Tomas Morato Street, the meeting place set by “Atty. Ching.”

Castro and Escobia were arrested “for possession and selling stolen property,” in violation of the provisions of Presidential Decree No. 1612, or the anti-fencing law.

Castro, according to Santiago, is a sibling of “Atty. Ching.” The NBI, however, has yet to provide details on the identity of “Atty. Ching.”

Jeremy Barns, director general of the National Museum, confirmed that the painting brought by the NBI to his office for authentication was the missing Amorsolo painting.

In a certification provided to the NBI, Barns said the painting “was visually inspected” and “is determined to be the same painting as ‘Mango Harvesters’ by Fernando Amorsolo that was reported as having been stolen on July 3, 2024.”Barns pegged the painting’s market value at P8 million to P12 million.

Lawyer Joselito Valle, the NBI’s agent-on-case, said a middle-aged woman and her male companion on July 3 took the painting from the museum’s second floor and placed it on a tote bag based on the CCTV provided by Hofileña Museum.

The painting, he said, was transported by commercial plane to Metro Manila.

The NBI, Valle said, is now hunting the two suspects who stole the painting from the museum.

Community treasure

In Negros Occidental, provincial officials and the administrators of the private museum in Silay City lauded authorities for recovering the painting.

“This is a miracle because other stolen Amorsolos are never found,” said Solomon Locsin, chair of the Negros Occidental Historical Council.

He feared that the thieves would destroy the painting had they failed to sell it after the theft was reported in the media.

“I’m happy that it has been found because this painting is important to Silay City,” he said.

Paintings of Filipino masters like Amorsolo are displayed either in the National Museum or Ayala Museum in Metro Manila which people in the provinces could not access easily, Locsin said.

“The Hofileña house has been a community museum. The loss of the Amorsolo painting is like denying the locality access to a piece of work by a Filipino master,” Locsin said.

Silay City in Negros Occidental is known as the “Paris of Negros” because of the residents’ love for the arts and heritage mansions.

Locsin said he was “positive” that the painting recovered by the NBI was Amorsolo’s “Mango Harvesters” stolen from Hofileña Museum, based on the video shown to him and museum administrator Rene “Boy” Hofileña by authorities.

“We just saw it on the video and we both confirmed that it was the one although it was brought to the National Museum for authentication,” Locsin said.

Hofileña, for his part, was happy that the valuable painting was recovered.

“Everyone in Silay and Negros is happy that the Amorsolo has been found,” he said.

Silay Mayor Joedith Gallego said he was overjoyed that the painting was recovered since it is an important piece of art.

Gallego said he would give the P25,000 reward money he offered to whoever helped the NBI recover the painting.

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