00:00The famous work of the National Artist for Painting, Fernando Amorzolo, was stolen from a private museum in Negros Occidental.
00:14The theft was recorded by CCTV. Who are the criminals?
00:25This ancestral house is a witness to the colorful and rich life of a famous family in Negros Occidental.
00:36This is the two-storey house of the Hofilenia family.
00:41It was built in the 1930s when the museum built the Hofilenia Ancestral House.
00:49This house was built in 1934 by Manuel Hofilenia for his wife, Hilda, and for his children.
00:57I am the youngest child of the Manuel Hofilenia family.
01:03Not only the old utensils and household items can be seen here,
01:11but also their huge art collection,
01:16the works of the most famous artists of the country.
01:21This is by Hidalgo and Juan Luna, who joined the competition in Paris before.
01:28This is by Bencab and Manansala.
01:32This is a kindergarten by San Yupi.
01:34And one of the most famous here is the painting of the National Artist, Fernando Amorzolo.
01:41This painting of Amorzolo was sold in Makati in 2019 for almost Php 47 million.
01:48That is why it is almost impossible to paint the face of the Hofilenia family
01:53when this painting of Amorzolo was stolen.
01:57It was past 11 in the morning when I climbed up here.
02:00I saw that the painting was gone.
02:03The theft was caught on CCTV.
02:07Who was the one who stole the masterpiece of Fernando Amorzolo?
02:13We pray that the painting of Amorzolo will be returned.
02:17Our development is that the first suspect is...
02:20Our development is that the first suspect is...
02:28The painting of Mango Harvesters was stolen.
02:33It was painted by Amorzolo in 1936.
02:37Here you can see a woman wearing a sari,
02:40with a boy and a girl while eating mangoes in Nayon.
02:45The 12 by 18 inches painting is part of the collection of Ramon Hofilenia.
02:52Fernando Amorzolo and Ramon Hofilenia attended art exhibits.
02:58That is where they met and became friends.
03:01Until he bought a painting of Fernando Amorzolo
03:05named Mango Harvesters, which is now 88 years old.
03:11Amorzolo showed that poverty is a way of life.
03:15That's why people do it together and they are happy doing it.
03:20Fernando Amorzolo is also known as the Grand Old Man of Philippine Art
03:25because of his great contribution to the art and culture of our country.
03:30In his paintings, he usually shows planting, scenery.
03:35You can also see his appreciation for beauty.
03:39Because most of his paintings or portraits are of beautiful women.
03:46In 1972, he was nominated as the first national artist of the Philippines.
03:54Amorzolo is the most famous contemporary painter.
04:00All of his paintings are priceless.
04:04According to one of the museum's executives, Jimmy,
04:08the people who stole the paintings were the visitors.
04:12On the morning of July 3,
04:14On that day, there were five people who climbed up.
04:18The gardener accompanied them because at that time, there was no tourist guide on duty.
04:23The gardener went down to let the others in.
04:26He left the people up there.
04:29The next thing they noticed
04:31was that at 10 in the morning, Amorzolo's painting was gone.
04:35Our investigator went to the theft and robbery section.
04:38We saw in the initial video of the CCTV who took the painting.
04:51Where is Amorzolo's painting?
04:54The police are now investigating
04:58to find out who stole the painting.
05:02And the most solid evidence is the CCTV footage
05:06where the theft of the painting was caught.
05:11In the second floor of the museum,
05:15there were five visitors.
05:17Two of them were wearing hats and face masks.
05:21They noticed that someone was peeping on the ground floor
05:26before they approached Amorzolo's painting.
05:30They also looked at the back of the painting.
05:32And when the visitors turned around,
05:35Amorzolo quickly removed the painting from the ground floor.
05:41And he brought it to the next room.
05:43One of the visitors immediately noticed the missing painting.
05:49While the CCTV footage was being recorded in the man's room,
05:54we can see how he put the painting in his bag.
05:59The suspect immediately went out of the room
06:01and accompanied the other visitors.
06:05The two suspects quickly took Amorzolo's painting.
06:12There was a pedicab.
06:14They rode it to the plaza.
06:16In this CCTV footage taken from the plaza,
06:20we can see the two of them riding a jeep to Bacolod City.
06:24One of the suspects was told by the police
06:27that they cannot name the suspect.
06:31One of our persons of interest
06:33found out that there were previous cases here in Bacolod in 2022.
06:38He was also accused of theft.
06:42The unfortunate theft of Amorzolo's painting
06:45has a big impact because
06:47almost all the prominent Filipino masters are in the museum.
06:50It is denying the locality of an opportunity
06:54to witness a work of a national artist.
06:58Just this Friday,
06:59the Silay City police arrived
07:02and stole Amorzolo's painting
07:04from the Hofileña Ancestral House
07:06in Mataan de Umano in Manila.
07:11I think Amorzolo's painting was stolen in 2019.
07:15Almost 47 million.
07:17Who was the thief who stole Fernando Amorzolo's masterpiece?
07:22This is the missing painting.
07:24Next, the painting of the national artist,
07:27Fernando Amorzolo, was stolen.
07:34Just this Friday,
07:35the Silay City police arrived
07:37and stole Amorzolo's painting
07:40from the Hofileña Ancestral House
07:42in Mataan de Umano.
07:46In Manila.
07:47I'm very comfortable with telling you and everyone
07:51that this is the missing painting.
07:53Who was the thief who stole Fernando Amorzolo's masterpiece?
08:01The two people who were caught by the police
08:04did not hit the person of interest
08:07who was seen in the CCTV.
08:09The two people who stole,
08:10there was a contact between them.
08:12They were ordered and financed
08:14to get the painting.
08:16From the airport in Iloilo,
08:18our two suspects were brought to Manila
08:22and they were brought to where they were ordered.
08:25The one who financed
08:28only recognized the thief.
08:30They did not know that this was the contents of the sack bag
08:33that they brought.
08:34Suspects may be charged with theft.
08:37In this case,
08:38if the painting is worth more than 2.2 million pesos,
08:43the sentence is 10 years and 1 day
08:46up to 12 years of imprisonment.
08:49In the case of an Amorzolo painting
08:51that we can say is a national treasure,
08:53we can say that it is priceless,
08:55but based on the assessed value,
08:56which is 50 million,
08:57the computation will be
08:591 year for every 1 million in excess
09:03of 2.2 million
09:04for as long as
09:05the total of 20 years of imprisonment will not exceed.
09:08We encourage the public
09:10to help take care of our culture in Minana,
09:14especially the paintings
09:16that are displayed in museums and galleries.
09:19Because this heritage is not only for us,
09:22but for the next generations.
09:24Now, we will continue
09:26and then we added CCTV and guards.
09:30This painting by Fernando Amorzolo
09:33and other national artists
09:36or painters
09:37is a treasure of our culture
09:39that should be visited by many Filipinos
09:43and not only in the custody of criminals.
09:53Thank you for watching, Kapuso!
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