Gov Gwen to announce case against NMP; DOT offers help in return of stolen panels to Boljoon

MEETING. Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia meets with representatives of the Archdiocese of Cebu to discuss the issue on the return of the Boljoon pulpit panels. (PHOTO BY MAX LIMPAG)

Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia will announce legal action against the National Museum of the Philippines (NMP) over four pulpit panels stolen from the heritage church of Boljoon in southern Cebu. Garcia will hold a press conference to make the announcement Monday noon. It will be streamed live over the Sugbo News Facebook page, in case you want to watch.

MEETING. Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia meets with representatives of the Archdiocese of Cebu to discuss the issue on the return of the Boljoon pulpit panels. (PHOTO BY MAX LIMPAG)
MEETING. Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia meets with representatives of the Archdiocese of Cebu to discuss the issue on the return of the Boljoon pulpit panels. (PHOTO BY MAX LIMPAG)

Garcia said this case will trigger action to also recover the other items reported stolen from both the Boljoon and Dalaguete churches that were then auctioned off by a gallery in Manila.

I’m not sure if officials of the NMP will be watching but a source told me members of the NMP Board of Trustees will also be meeting on Monday.

I submitted a “proper” news article and it’s still being processed. This is a blog post on the matter and contains personal observations.

Tourism Secretary Ma. Esperanza Christina Garcia-Frasco wrote NMP BOT Chair Andoni Aboitiz last January 8, 2025 to offer “any assistance necessary” to facilitate the return of the four pulpit panels to Boljoon. Frasco is Garcia’s daughter and was mayor of Liloan in Cebu before she was named to lead the Department of Tourism.

In her letter to Aboitiz, Frasco reiterated “my support for the requests of the Archdiocese of Cebu, the Provincial Government of Cebu, and the Municipality of Boljoon, for the immediate return of the religious panels to the Boljoon Church.”

Frasco, being the DOT Secretary, is a member of the NMP BOT. She also asked Aboitiz for “more detailed information regarding the timeline for the restoration process, including the intended date for the National Museum of the Philippines to return the panels to the Boljoon Church.”

I asked NMP Director General Jeremy Barns for a comment but he did not reply. Barns has been unresponsive to messages ever since I asked him about his meeting with Archbishop Palma in May 2024. His answer then was that he would let me know “at the right time.” In fairness to him, he did grant me close to an hour of interview, the full transcript of which you can find here.

But as courtesy and in the interest of fairness, I make it a point to always ask for his side, even knowing that he would continue to ignore my messages.

Hambugero kaayo,” (he’s so arrogant), Gov. Garcia said of Barns in one interview.

But I know that he has read my messages.

He also ignored Garcia. Both Aboitiz and NCCA Chair Ino Manolo met with the governor on separate occasions, but not Barns.

I fared no better with Keith Reburiano of their Communications and External Affairs Section. I sent him an email asking about updates on the panels last November 27, 2024. I followed it up a week later and on December 9, 2024, I got an acknowledgement of the email and an excuse that they get a lot of messages. Since then, I got nothing. As of the publication of this blog post, this lowly freelance journalist from the province still has not received a response from Keith.

Hawod kaayong mga tawhana (They feel superior),” Garcia told me in an interview.

I also encountered the same stonewalling at the Archdiocese of Cebu. Father Dan delos Angeles, one of the lawyers of the archdiocese and ironically a former journalist, also refuses requests for interviews (even on background) and information. I asked for help to understand the legal issues from the point of view of the archdiocese, still nothing. I wasn’t even gonna name him, I just wanted help to understand the issues. Nothing.

What’s worse is that when you ask Archbishop Jose Palma and the other officials, they always say the information is with Father delos Angeles and to ask him. I don’t know if the archdiocesan officials know about Father delos Angeles’ stonewalling and just want to frustrate journalists like me by continuing to ask me to get the information from him, knowing it would be a dead end. I think that’s it. They want to frustrate me to encourage me to pray. Ginoo, tabangi tawon ko aning Father Dan.

The least the archdiocese could have done was to get information that could be shared with the media from Father Dan so that if reporters asked for an update, they could share what could be shared with the public. Instead, I get referred to who is essentially for those seeking information, a walking statue.

Delos Angeles was one of the representatives of Archbishop Palma in Saturday’s meeting with Garcia. The others were Father Brian Brigoli, chair of the Cebu Archdiocesan Commission for the Cultural Heritage of the Church; Monsignor Renato Beltran, the chancellor; and Monsignor Rogelop Fuentes, the vicar general.

Garcia had invited Palma to the meeting but I was told there was a scheduling conflict that’s why the prelate couldn’t be there. I think the issue is uniquely important for Palma because of two things: he is retiring in March and so this is an unfinished business, a hanging legacy, and he is a member of the Vatican Dicastery of Culture and Education.

I saw a staff member of the governor talking to Father Dan as I was leaving the room and she told me, “you can interview Father Dan.” I think they’re friends, being former colleagues. I answered her and told Father Dan to his face, “di man na magpa-interview.”

It’s nothing personal, I don’t know Father Dan from Jesus. The only thing I know is that he once was a reporter. He knows it’s my job to ask questions so it makes one wonder at his behavior. He once told a mutual friend whom I asked to serve as intercessor for my requests for an interview that he wanted to just be in the background, out of the limelight. Char. Be a hermit for all I care but the things that you do for the archdiocese have public interest and could be or even should be reported on. Pari ni siya Ginoo?

If the NMP people and Father Dan think stonewalling would get me off a story, then they have another think coming. My longest follow up question took me four years and a trip to a remote monastery in the mountains in the south of Cebu to ask.

Father Brigoli, on the other hand, is so much more helpful. He will answer questions when he can and would tell me if he doesn’t have the information.

I entered the meeting room on Saturday afternoon and asked the governor’s staff whether the meeting was closed-door. Gov Gwen said she was okay if I stayed in the room but then she asked the priests whether they were okay with it. They (or one of them) requested that I be let out of the room. The Sugbo News crew remained inside the room so I couldn’t understand why the priests wanted me out.

I waited outside the room and used the 5x zoom of the iPhone 16 to read what was projected on the screen during the meeting. It’s a pretty nifty feature. There wasn’t really a need to do it because I got a copy of the document, Frasco’s letter, after the meeting.

I was able to talk to Gov. Gwen after the meeting. Most of what she said I had already reported on earlier. But she said she will share more details during the press conference.

A source recently told me the restoration of the panels was scheduled to be completed this January. Two sources expressed concern at the restoration. I asked one why the NMP chose restoration rather than conservation and I was told that the NMP thinks they own the panels and could do with it what they think is best for it.

Meanwhile, several contacts from Boljoon have expressed disappointment at the delay. They had hoped it would be returned at least in time for last year’s fiesta.

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