PHILIPPINES
Philippine Daily Inquirer
12:30 am | Wednesday, September 26th, 2012
A Catholic prelate came to the defense of Msgr. Cristobal Garcia, who was caught in a controversy involving ivory smuggling in the Philippines.
Msgr. Jose Barrion, chairman of the cultural heritage committee of the diocese of San Pablo, Laguna province, said he believed that Garcia’s collection of ivory-made religious images, were acquired a long time ago.
“When you say collection, we’re talking here of antique pieces, items that existed hundreds of years ago,” Barrion said in an interview.
“The images in Monsignor Garcia’s collection were not recently made, those are antiques, probably made long before the law banning ivory trading was implemented,” Barrion said.
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