Statue of hero in Negros Occidental 'beheaded'

A gruesome sight greeted residents of Bago City in Negros Occidental, after the statue of local hero Gen. Juan Araneta was found "beheaded," a Negros-based news site reported Wednesday.

Visayan Daily Star reported a man believed to be mentally unstable removed the head from the statue of General Juan Araneta at 3:30 a.m. Monday.

The statue in front of the Ramon Torres Memorial Coliseum in Brgy. Poblacion, Bago City had depicted Araneta, who was among the Filipinos who resisted Spanish colonial rule, as riding on a horse.

In Monday's incident, a certain Ricky Rivera, 40, of Pulupandan town, was quoted in a police report as saying he wanted to take the gold from the head of the statue.

The Visayan Daily Star report quoted Bago Mayor Ramon Torres as saying Rivera then allegedly rode on the horse and rocked it as if he were riding a real horse.

Bago police head Superintendent Arnel Arpon added Rivera tried to strike the horse with a bamboo stick, but hit the head of the statue, which fell to the ground.

Policemen and bystanders tried to convince Rivera to get off the horse, offering him food but they failed.

Local police retrieved the statue head and brought it to the city rescue unit's office. Rivera was endorsed to the city police station but was later released, Arpon said.

Torres said the Bago government will repair the statue, which he said is more than 50 years old.

He noted the bolo being held by Araneta had also been removed before. — Joel Locsin /LBG, GMA News