With the welcome news of the possible return of the Balangiga bells, relatives of the Manobo woman who found the Golden Tara are also demanding for the return of the relic.
The Golden Tara is a 21-karat golden image of a Hindu goddess. It was found in 1917 along the Agusan River in Esperanza, Agusan del Sur.
Constancia Guiral, descendant of the original owner Belay Campos, told the PhilStar that their family prefers to have the Golden Tara housed at the National Museum or in a regional museum for the Filipino people to see and appreciate.
Guiral said that her great grandmother from the Agusan Manobo tribe found the golden image and started worshipping it. She claimed that it was stolen twice from them.
The Golden Tara did not resurface until the 1920s when it was displayed as a part of the Manila Exposition. It was bought by American Faye Cooper-Cole for P4000 and brought to the Field Museum of Chicago. If adjusted to the inflation since the 1920s, it is now more than P1.2 million.
In an interview, Guiral said that they regret displaying the icon in the altar instead of hiding it. Since there were no locks during that time, it was easily taken from them.
Stretching seven inches tall and weighing 1.79 kilograms, the relic is considered as an important archeological discovery dating back to the 13th century. According to historians, it is a proof of Indonesian empire Sri Vijaya’s influence in the country before the Spanish colonizers came.
The year 2018 marks the centennial anniversary of the discovery of the image. If the return of the relic is not possible, Guiral wants their family to at least have a finder’s fee.
