History Pag-Kakabalik ng Sto. Niño de Tondo
The Sto. Niño image was reported missing on the morning of July 14, 1972, by the assistant parish priest, Fr. Lorenzo Egos, who suggested that the thieves hid in the church when the doors were bolted at 8 p.m. the night before. He suspected someone who had been attending Mass days before and described this character to the police.
The image was described as being: two feet tall, a wooden body with ivory parts, adorned with accessories of gold and silver. To the faithful, the image was priceless, but for police purposes a P500, 000 price tag was provided. (Not all news was bad news because on the day the Sto. Niño de Tondo was stolen, a silver incense burner stolen in Carcar, Cebu, was recovered and returned.)
Manila’s Finest engaged their informants and three days later a suspect was arrested. Reynio Rivera, 24 years old and jobless, named three companions in the theft. Parts of the image were recovered in separate houses on Balagtas Street, Tondo: the wooden body dumped in a canal near Rivera’s house, the left arm, a silver scepter, a golden cross, and a bronze crown.
On Aug. 2, 1972 the weather improved, the floods subsided and the Sto. Niño de Tondo (or most of its parts) was recovered, presented to President and Mrs Marcos in Malacañang and brought in procession back to Tondo church.
Postscript to the story is that the thieves were Kapampangan who specialized in looting churches of their precious antiques. Before striking in Tondo, the thieves had taken another image from a church in Tuguegarao, Cagayan. The gold cross of the image was bought by Eugenio Milan of Bulacan for the magnificent sum of P43Million charged as an accessory to the crime.
Where the other stolen parts were recovered from is not clear. Police were not allowed to enter an art gallery on Vito Cruz where the thieves offered the more valuable parts, including the ivory head, for sale. These parts were presented to Mrs Marcos in Malacañang by Dr. Eleuterio Pascual, the art gallery owner, then the famous santo sculptor of Malate, Maximo Vicente, was called in to put everything together. A thanksgiving Mass was held in Malacañang, with President Marcos reading the Epistle in English and Tagalog, while 2,000 impatient devotees waited outside to escort their patron back to Tondo church. It was described as an emotional moment. Many were moved to tears even as they were distracted by the beauty of Mrs Marcos, who was described as a Norma Blancaflor look-a-like.
Then as now, churches are looted of their treasures. Some artifacts are returned, but many remain at large, leaving the faithful waiting in vain.
