Pope Francis venerates Our Lady of Hope of Palo. Photo from Wikimedia Commons
GUAGUA, Pampanga – Too good an opportunity to pass for a fast buck in the guise of religious devotion, especially with its connection to the Pope.
Forgeries of the image of the now iconic Our Lady of Hope of Palo presented in the historic Mass celebrated by Pope Francis in Leyte in January 17, 2015 are being sold as replicas of the smaller version of the image.
Presidential Merit Awardee for Ecclesiastical Art Willy Layug, the sculptor of the image, said sellers from Metro Manila and Cavite are peddling these forged images and a Cebu manufacturer has done even better with “almost exact copies.”
Layug added that resin forgeries of the image, in 21-inch and 3-feet sizes, are also being sold on Facebook.
The artist, whose ecclesiastical art pieces have been enshrined in various churches in the Philippines and abroad, including the Vatican, said that even as he welcomes “creative imitation,” sellers should not be peddling duplicates since the image is protected by copyright and the Archdiocese of Palo is the only one authorized to sell the image for charity purposes.
The image is protected under copyright with Registration Number H-2015-0016 and bears a period during the artist’s lifetime and extends to 50 years after the artist’s death. The copyright was issued in 2016.
“We welcome people who draw inspiration from the image and recreate their own versions but to actually take an original replica and have it reproduced for sale and personal gain is a different thing,” said Layug.
Layug disclosed that he has coordinated with concerned national government agencies to apprehend these unscrupulous traders and manufacturers.
According to the artist, this is not the first time that unscrupulous traders have been passing off forgeries as genuine replicas of the image. In 2015, a Manila company was asked to cease and desist from producing and selling resin copies of the image.
The original image of Our Lady of Hope of Palo is currently enshrined at the Palo Cathedral and is steadily gaining devotees from the local Catholic faithful. Since its debut in the Papal Mass, there has been a demand for smaller versions of the image.
Original replicas of the image are only available through Layug’s Betis Galleria and the Archdiocese of Palo. — With PR
