Two security guards detailed at the St. Catherine of Alexandria Cathedral in Dumaguete City, Negros Oriental, were caught on the closed circuit television cameras stealing from the contribution boxes in the church last month and will be charged with theft.

Cathedral rector, Msgr. Julius Perpetuo Heruela, yesterday filed a complaint at the Dumaguete City Police Station against the two security guards, whose names and agency are being withheld by the police, pending their arrests and the filing of the charges in court.

Heruela said he is leaving the investigation to the police but vowed to file criminal charges against the suspects in his capacity as a church official.

He said this is not the first time that the Cathedral was robbed of tithes and cash proceeds in the past years, but the police were unable to solve any of those cases.

He said the biggest haul amounted to P504,367,000, including more than P100,000 from mass collections, from December 26, 2011 to January 1, 2012, and the rest were funds of the Parish Pastoral Council for various projects.

Heruela said that after that theft, security cameras were installed at the Cathedral and the buildings in the compound.

Police and church officials believed that all the burglaries had been perpetrated by people having access to the convent, the church and its grounds, as there were no visible signs of forced entry in these incidents.*JFP

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