YEARS after they were stolen from Our Lady of the Rule Shrine in Lapu-Lapu City, two chalices that had long been missing were found inside a shanty in the town of Consolacion, about an hour and thirty minutes away from the church.
The religious items were ironically discovered inside the house of 27-year-old Dominic Pahugot, the drug-crazed man who mercilessly beheaded his wife last October 8 during an argument with her.
According to Supt. Mina Domingo, head of the Consolacion Police Station, shrine workers confirmed that the silver- and gold-plated chalices which were discovered by policemen in Pahugot’s house belonged to the parish.
The chalices were reportedly among the items stolen from the church sometime in 2012.
Pahugot’s mother, Angelica, said that the two chalices were kept by Pahugot in his home for at least two years.
“Basin maoy hinungdan nga wala nagmalinawon iyang kinabuhi tungod atong kales (Maybe that is why he lived a miserable life because he kept those chalices),” said Angelica.
Angelica recalled Pahugot telling her that an uncle from Lapu-Lapu City gave the “antique-looking” chalices to him.
Though aware that they had no relatives in Lapu-Lapu City, Angelica said she no longer bothered to probe her son about the chalices’ origin.
But Angelica admitted that Pahugot was jailed for theft before.
Minutes after beheading his wife, Pahugot was shot dead by responding policemen after he charged at them with his two bolos.
When policemen searched Dominic’s shanty after he was killed, Angelica said she led police to the dirty kitchen where the two chalices were kept.
The religious items are now in the custody of Consolacion police authorities who are preparing the documents for their proper turnover to Our Lady of the Rule church.
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