via SunStar, 08 April 2024: The controversy over the Boljoon church pulpit panels has drawn attention to the complexities of proving legal ownership and the act of fencing under Philippine law. While the Office of the Solicitor General emphasized the need for the Cebu Archdiocese to prove ownership and the unlawful taking of the panels, it did not directly address the legality of the donors’ ownership and their right to donate the panels to the National Museum of the Philippines. The situation has led to a broader discussion on the handling and preservation of cultural heritage, with the OSG’s opinion leaving many stakeholders, including Cebu Governor Gwen Garcia, seeking further clarification.
As one may notice, none of those answers directly tackled the donor spouses’ legal ownership of the panels and their right to donate them. The OSG opinion merely declared the NMP’s “basis for claiming ownership over the panels” (the spouses’ deed of donation) but didn’t say about the Bautistas’ ownership rights.
Cebu Governor Gwen Garcia was reported by Rappler Sunday, April 8, 2024 she’d write to the OSG to clarify about its legal opinion on the Boljoon panels. “The way the NMP interpreted the opinion made the National Museum think it was in their favor,” Garcia said.
That could be due to the OSG opinion’s focus on the law-imposed load of the Cebu Archdiocese in proving ownership and unlawful taking. The solicitor general’s opinion examinedmostly at the Cebu Archdiocese’s bid to recover the panels, saying in effect: Prove ownership and the theft or robbery. It didn’t take up the basis of the donors’ ownership. Nothing is known
