Sta. Rita image loses P600T jewelry

CEBU, Philippines - Burglars have barged into Tabor Hills Chapel in Barangay Talamban and stole some P600,000 worth of jewelry items from the image of Sta. Rita last Sunday night.

Among those stolen items were two gold necklaces and two golden rings that were adorned on the image’s body, said Talamban Police chief Jose Gesto.

Police and church staff believed that the thieves carried out the burglary at 8:45 in the evening while the puerta mayor or the main door to the convent was opened.

Gesto said priests and seminarians were just done having a Christmas Party inside the chapel when the burglary took place.

A seminarian who went back inside the chapel noticed the glass covering the image already broken into pieces and the jewelry pieces already missing, report further showed.

Father Dennis Ruiz, the chaplain, in an interview over GMA Balitang Bisdak, said the thieves did not manage to get other jewelry pieces adorned on the image’s veil.

Ruiz said it was still unfortunate too that the Sta. Rita relic was not stolen.

The image, which was supposed to be taken from the glass case every month of May only, was taken out yesterday for Ruiz to check for other missing items.

Ruiz believed that the culprits are just residents who live near the chapel.

With this incident, the church is contemplating on installing security cameras.

Chief Insp. Aileen Recla, chief of Investigation and Detective Management Branch, said they have already identified two male suspects responsible for the chapel burglary.

One of the suspects, she said, appeared to be a child since the fingerprints lifted from the glasses were those of a child’s fingers.

Recla said they are still pursuing the suspects though who just got out from the Cebu City Jail. (FREEMAN)