Surgeon tagged as mastermind in Masbate cathedral theft

MANILA, Philippines - The police have tagged a surgeon and two cohorts as suspects in the robbery of the ivory head and hands of the Immaculate Conception statue inside a cathedral in Masbate city in central Philippines. Senior Superintendent Reuben Theodore Sindac, chief of the Masbate police, identified the suspects as Dr. Clemente Hector Severino Bajar, Manolito Francisco Manaway Canaway, and Arvin Malagueña Rosales. Of the three, only Bajar remains at large, Sindac said. “Suspects Canaway and Rosales are already under our custody while Dr. Bajar remains at large and refuses to comment on the charge against him,” he said. Superintendent Jeffrey Fernandez, chief of the Masbate City Police, said the involvement of Bajar was established after the arrest of Canaway and Rosales last month. Fernandez quoted Canaway as saying that it was Bajar who ordered him to steal the head and hands of the Immaculate Conception replica inside the Masbate Cathedral located at Bapor village in Masbate city last November 23. Canaway, who hired Rosales for assistance, agreed to do the job for the price of P10,000. Fernandez said the Canaway and Rosales used a steel saw to cut off the head and hands of the Immaculate Concepcion statue. Fernandez said they are yet to conduct follow-up operation to recover the head and hands of the image, which he said were already given by Canaway to Bajar after he was paid with P10,000. “We are just waiting if the case will prosper and if it did and then an arrest warrant is issued, we will get him (Bajar),” he said. - GMANews.TV