Amorsolo painting recovered by local authorities, suspects arrested

Recently, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) announced that the stolen painting of national artist Fernando Amorsolo was recovered and arrested two suspects, according to a Philippine Daily Inquirer news report. The painting was previously stolen from a museum in Silay City, Negros Oriental province. It has since been returned to the National Museum of the Philippine for assessment.

To put things in perspective, posted below is an excerpt from the Inquirer news report. Some parts in boldface…

The stolen Fernando Amorsolo painting has been recovered, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) said Friday.

NBI Director Jaime Santiago presented the recovered 1936 masterpiece of the national artist titled “Mango Harvesters,” which was snatched from the Hofileña Museum in Silay, City, Negros Occidental last week.

Santiago said an entrapment operation was hatched to catch people allegedly involved in the sale of the prized painting for P3.5 million, after receiving a tip from a certain “Atty. Ching.”

The entrapment operation was carried out on Thursday, July 11, at Tomas Morato in Quezon City, which resulted in the arrest of Ritz Chona Ching and Donecio Somaylo, who supposedly brought the stolen art for delivery.

Ching and Somaylo were brought for inquest proceedings before the Department of Justice. They are facing a complaint for violating Presidential Decree 1612 or the Anti-Fencing Law.

Let me end this piece by asking you readers: What is your reaction to this recent development? Do you think more should be done by museums to prevent thieves from stealing valuable artworks?

You may answer in the comments below. If you prefer to answer privately, you may do so by sending me a direct message online.

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