Botong's work 'Camote Diggers' auctioned off at P23.4M amid looming controversy

National artist Carlos “Botong” Francisco’s last and unfinished work “Camote Diggers” has been auctioned off for P23.4 million from the Leon Gallery. But the artists circle in his hometown Angono in Rizal province is abuzz as the famous work had been given by Botong's widow as gift to then President Ferdinand Marcos and First Lady Imelda, and is supposedly being kept in Malacañang.

A photo taken on the day it was given to the Marcoses still hangs inside Botong’s studio that now serves as a museum, open daily to the public.

Photo currently on display at the studio of national artist Carlos “Botong” Francisco in his hometown Angono, Rizal

But the big question in the minds of some of Botong’s kababayans is, Who could be selling the “Camote Diggers?”

The Leon Gallery website states that the painting is a “property of a very distinguished gentleman.”

It also stated that it was part of the exhibit “Celebration of Artistic Excellence” by the Yuchengco Museum in 2015.

At the auction, the starting bid of Camote Diggers was at P16 million.

Screengrab of "Camote Diggers" from Leon Gallery website.

Auction result.

But curiosity over the Camote Diggers' sale looms large, foreshadowed by an “urgent” letter of Botong’s heirs to Mrs. Marcos through their counsel Atty. Arnel Victor Valeña.

In the letter, Valeña inquired on how the painting landed in an auction house when it is supposedly in Malacañang.

The painting was said to be a gift from Botong’s widow Rosalina to the Filipino people through the Marcoses after Botong passed away in 1969, and the presentation of the unfinished work was done in Malacañang.

The Marcoses were forced to leave Malacanañg in 1986, at the height of the EDSA People Power uprising. 

“While the family was aware that the painting used to be in Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, and later the Yuchengco Museum, they were never able to get information about the painting from either institution despite their best efforts,” Valeña stated in the letter to Mrs. Marcos.

“Now they (Francisco family) have thought about writing to you to shed light on the painting’s history, and have asked for my assistance in writing to you formally. We are hoping you could clarify how the painting came to be removed from Malacanañg, how it came to be housed in BSP and Yuchengco Museum, and why it is now being auctioned by Leon Gallery,” Valeña's letter reads. 

He then asked: “If you do not know, then was the painting stolen in Malacañang?”

GMA News online has sought comments from the Marcos family and the Leon Gallery, but both have not yet issued statements on the matter. —LBG/LA, GMA News