FOR A local antique dealer in Cebu City, religious items and antiques should belong to churches, claiming that religious items offered and displayed in antique shops are often stolen artifacts.
Raphael Ojales, co-owner of Raphael’s Antiques, an antique store that opened in the 1990s located in Barangay Kamputhaw, said his shop avoids acquiring and selling religious items because of the sensitive nature of the items.
He also believes that religious items should be in churches.
“I really don’t deal with or focus on church (antiques). It’s a really sensitive topic,” said Ojales in an interview with SunStar Cebu on Monday, March 4, 2024.
Ojales acknowledged the recent issue surrounding the ownership of the pulpit panels of the Archdiocesan Shrine of the Nuestra Señora Patrocinio de Maria Santisima in Boljoon, Cebu, and says this is among the reasons he avoids acquiring and selling religious items.
After decades of being missing since these were reported stolen in the 1980s, the four wooden panels that belong to the Archdiocesan Shrine of the Nuestra Señora Patrocinio de Maria Santisima in Boljoon, Cebu resurfaced on Feb. 14, 2024.
These resurfaced after being donated by a private collector to the National Museum of the Philippines (NMP). The town of Boljoon has urged the NMP to return the four pulpit panels to reclaim a significant part of its cultural and religious heritage. The NMP, for its part, said the panels are “legitimately procured.”
Ojales added that there is a possibility that there are people within the church who could be tempted to take a religious item.
“Well, it’s clear naman for church items kinawat g’yud na (were stolen). I mean they’re made exclusively for the church,” said Ojales.
Ojales said he was advised by his father to deal only with vintage furniture and other items, instead of religious items.
Raphael’s Antiques is a shop that was originally located on General Maxilom Avenue but closed in 2014 when Ojales’ mother got sick. The antique shop reopened in 2020 and has been moved to its current location. The shop curates vintage items such as furniture, lamps and other household decorations.
Ojales said they acquire antique pieces by traveling and visiting ancestral homes of people and inquiring about vintage pieces that are available for sale or having canvassers in other areas inquire for them.
He said he has canvassers in other municipalities in Cebu, such as Balamban and areas outside the province like Bohol.
Ojales said when it comes to items like furniture and other pieces, authentications are not often necessary because they are obtained from individuals who are elderly and are genuinely from older eras.
However, art pieces, particularly those with signatures, require authentication through a certificate of authenticity. / RJM