The church pianist accused of stealing several images of saints at the San Antonio Abad Parish Church in Bacolod City is not a nephew of Bacolod Bishop Navarra, a relative of the prelate told the DAILY STAR yesterday.

Mary Agnes Capigon, incumbent president of the Don Vito Navarra Clan, yesterday said Ajax Layon, alias "Jack Aguila Navarra", is not her brother. Layon had earlier claimed to be a son of Apolinario Navarra, who is her father, and a first cousin of the bishop, she said.

Asked by the DAILY STAR yesterday, Bishop Navarra neither confirmed nor denied the reports, but referred questions to Capigon.

Capigon, a niece of the bishop, said Layon's mother, Rose, is a native of Bantayan, Cebu, who used to be their housemaid, gave birth to Ajax. She, however, left him to her parent's custody but promised to return and take him with her in the 1970's.

However, Rose failed to keep her promise, so her parents raised Ajax and provided him his needs. She said she considered Ajax a "problem child" as he often skipped classes to play with his friends and had not even finished his elementary schooling.

She said she later learned that Ajax, who was then eight years old, was housed at the Boy's Home Foundation in Granada and was brought by a social worker to his grandmother in Bantayan, Cebu. Since then, Capigon said she never heard about Ajax's whereabouts until he was arrested for violating the Anti-Fencing Law Saturday.

Capigon said her parents did not adopt Ajax legally, and he "has not a single drop of the Navarra's blood".

She said Ajax possibly dropped the name of the bishop so that the police will treat him nicely.

Layon and Richard Sy Tigly, an altar boy and pianist, were accused of stealing eight images of saints from the San Antonio Abad Church in May, police reports said.*DMG

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