INQUIRER FILES
TACLOBAN CITY — Catholics in Gandara town, Samar are appealing for the return of one of the church bells stolen on Aug. 8.
Paolo Armateo, a staff of the St. Michael the Archangel Parish, said the bronze-cast bell was on the floor of the church’s belfry when unidentified thieves stole it. The 300-kilo bell had not been used recently due to its cracks.
Armateo said it would take at least six people to carry the bell and might have taken the stairs that led to the belfry.
The parish has no closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras that could have helped identify the thieves, he added.
He said the church has requested assistance from officials of Barangay Poblacion where the church is located and other areas to check the movement of the culprits.
“We are appealing for help in recovering the bell. The police are assisting us and are conducting an investigation to identify and apprehend the suspects,” Armateo said in an interview on Aug. 12.
“Although we do not use the bell during our Masses due to some cracks, we still treasure it,” he added.
The bell, he said, was made in Cebu in the 1970s.
Major Jonathan Camacho, police chief of Gandara, asked the public, particularly those with CCTV cameras near the church, to help identify the perpetrators.
“Our investigation is ongoing, and we have yet to identify any suspects or persons of interest,” he said, adding that the theft happened between 1 a.m. and 3 a.m.
The incident has saddened parishioners of the St. Michael the Archangel Parish.
“It’s so shocking. How could these culprits even steal something that belongs to the Church? May the Lord take care of you,” churchgoer Abbie Ramos said.