Images were found damaged outside the Parish of St Padre Pio in Legazpi City, Albay.
This includes the image of Our Lady of Salvation at the entrance of the parish, who lost her right hand. The left hand of this companion angel is also gone.
The image below of Our Lady of Salvation was also cut off.
Even the image of St. Padre Pio lost his fingers.
According to parish priest Fr. Bob Bañares, they discovered the images were broken last week.
The images have been only in the church for three years.
“Noong nakita [ko], para akong nanghina. May pagkagalit pero hindi mo naman nakita kung sino ang gumawa,” said Bañares.
The church has not yet determined who was behind the destruction of the images but they allegedly noticed a homeless person roaming around the parish before the incident.
He said the church will just repair the damaged images.
They also hired a security guard to guard the church.
Images in Basilan Catholic church damaged
Last week, devotees of the 2 chapels in Basilan city were shocked after discovering the broken and discarded statues of the saints on Ash Wednesday.
They were about to prepare for Ash Wednesday when the situation in the chapels startled them.
The head of an image in San Isidro Labrador Chapel in Sta. Clara, Lamitan City was removed while the chapel in Little Cebu, Barangay Maganda, a statue of the saint was thrown outside.
It is now being investigated who is responsible for the destruction of the statues and whether the two incidents are related.
The Philippines is one of the two nations in Asia having a substantial portion of the population professing the Catholic faith, along with East Timor, and has the third-largest Catholic population in the world after Brazil and Mexico.
Christianity was first brought to the Philippine islands by Spanish missionaries and settlers, who arrived in waves beginning in the early 16th century in Cebu. Compared to the Spanish Era, when Christianity was recognized as the state religion, the faith today is practiced in the context of a secular state.
In 2015, it was estimated that 84 million Filipinos, or roughly 82.9% to 85% of the population, profess the Catholic faith.