THE mayor of Boljoon in southern Cebu has urged the community to protect the pulpit panels at the Archdiocesan Shrine of Patrocinio de Maria Santisima.
“Nag-awhag ko nga ato ning ampingan ug mas magbinantayon nga dili na mausab nga mawala (I urge everyone to take care of these panels and we should be more vigilant so that they won’t disappear again),” Derama said in an interview with reporters.
Derama said 29 closed-circuit television cameras have been installed around the parish, including in the plaza and the playground in front of the church, to monitor and secure the area.
The mayor joined his fellow Boljoanons in welcoming the return of the four pulpit panels that went missing for more than four decades on Friday, March 14, 2025.
Four of the six pulpit panels went missing sometime in the late 1980s, with theories suggesting they were either looted or sold without permission from the Archdiocese of Cebu.
The panels were part of the church’s pulpit, which originally had six panels, with one still missing and another already in the church’s possession.
The panels, featuring carvings of St. Alypius, St. Thomas of Villanova, St. Augustine of Hippo and St. Possidius, were rediscovered in February 2024. They were donated to the National Museum of the Philippines (NMP) by collectors Edwin and Aileen Bautista as a “gift to the nation” before being returned to the Archdiocese of Cebu last Thursday, March 13.
The NMP decided to return the panels after pressure from the Cebu Provincial Government, which assisted the Archdiocese of Cebu in retrieving the religious artifacts.
Jubilant Boljoanons
The return of the four panels was a cause for celebration by the parishioners, including Solidad Medrano Felices, 79.
“Lipay kaayo, lipay kaayo mi nga nabalik na (We are very happy that they have been returned,” she said.
Felices said the panels disappeared when she was still in her 30s.
For Billie Niere, who is 70 and a member of Boljoon’s Parish Pastoral Council, said the return of the panels was an “unexpected historical event” after more than 40 years.
“We finally found and recovered them. It brings us great joy,” Niere said in a mix of Cebuano and English.
Reconciliation
A mass was held at the Archdiocesan Shrine of Patrocinio de Maria Santisima on Friday to celebrate the return of the panels.
Fr. Bryan Brigoli, chairman of the Cebu Archdiocesan Commission on Culture, said in his homily that the return of the panels was not just about recovering lost treasures but also about restoring, reconciling, and accepting what was once lost.
“To return is also to reconcile,” Brigoli said in Cebuano, encouraging the devotees to reflect on the deeper meaning behind the panels’ journey home.
Reinstallment
The four panels will be reinstalled in the church pulpit on Wednesday, March 19. A pontifical mass presided over by Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma will be held on Friday, March 21, to mark the unveiling of the installation and the signing of the official turnover document.
During the handover ceremony last March 13, Gabriel Caballero, director and principal consultant of Calahe, an environmental consultancy service, presented the conservation work on the panels. He said the restoration involved cleaning, applying varnish to the front, and coating the back with beeswax.
Caballero said each panel measures 400 millimeters (mm) in width and 820 mm in length, with a thickness ranging from 18 to 24.5 mm.
Carbon dating
Caballero said the planned carbon dating of the panels, which was delayed due to contamination from the varnish and beeswax applied during restoration.
In a separate interview, Dr. Jobers Bersales, who was involved in the process, said a 10-milligram sample of the wood was scheduled to be extracted to determine the “real calibrated year” of the panels. However, the extraction was postponed after it was confirmed that the varnish and beeswax could interfere with the dating process.
“We have to postpone this. These (panels) are covered with modern wax. We have to extract wood that is not exposed,” he said.
Bersales explained that modern carbon dating only requires a small 10-milligram sample, but the contamination from restoration makes it necessary to extract the sample from an uncontaminated section of the wood.
The samples will be sent to the Beta Analytic Laboratory in Florida for testing, costing approximately US$675 per sample.
Bersales said the NMP advised them to seek permission from the National Commission for Culture and the Arts before proceeding with the extraction.
“We were advised by the National Museum that it would be best to request permission first from the National Commission for Culture and the Arts to allay any concerns about damaging the panels,” he said. (CDF)