Cult leader Apollo Quiboloy, the self-proclaimed “Son of God” and founder of the million-strong Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KOJC) is now in the custody of the state. But does it really matter whether he surrendered or was arrested?
Mr. Quiboloy’s lawyer, Israelito Torreon, was adamant his client voluntarily gave himself up to the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (ISAFP), apparently to spite Brigadier General Nicanor Torre III, who had vowed that his men wouldn’t rest until the doomsday cult leader was arrested.
Torreon could also be trying to placate Mr. Quiboloy’s followers whose faith in the cult leader has so permeated their psyche, much like barnacles that have latched on to their brains. The messaging that Quiboloy is ready to sacrifice himself to save his flock is just too potent to pass up.
Well, Mr. Quiboloy, as President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. points out, surrendered because the police serving the arrest warrant were closing in on him. And the arresting officers, tired of his recalcitrance, had given him an ultimatum: either he gives himself up within 24 hours or they would drag him out of his lair.
The lawyer’s purpose also tries to deflect attention from the charges Mr. Quiboloy faces: multiple rape of minors, human trafficking, and child abuse, among others. The gambit is paying off, with the media and the general public lapping it all up.
Dreading the prospect of being arrested by the police, Mr. Quiboloy asked ISAFP to come to the KOJC compound to take him into custody, saying he would only surrender to them.
By acceding to the request (or was it a demand?), the military’s intelligence agency allowed itself to be used by Mr. Quiboloy and the politicians who tirelessly support and protect him, among them, former President Rodrigo Duterte and his daughter, Vice President Sara Duterte.
It was an act of discourtesy to, if not outright contempt for, the Philippine National Police (PNP), which had been combing the KOJC compound for weeks, while fending off Mr. Quiboloy’s fanatical supporters.
ISAFP’s interference in a purely police operation gives the KOJC lawyer what he believes is a significant talking point: that Mr. Quiboloy voluntarily surrendered to spare his followers further harm at the hands of police.
PNP under political pressure
The PNP is partly to blame for the whole mess. It should have ordered the cops on the ground to arrest KOJC members for obstruction of justice. By treating the protesters with kid gloves, the police emboldened them.
To be fair, the police operated under tremendous political pressure. They would get blamed if people got seriously hurt in the standoff.
Mr. Quiboloy was disrespectful of the process surrounding his arrest and incarceration, without the authorities admonishing him.
At a press conference called by Interior Secretary Benhur Abalos, the fugitive pastor suggested that Senator Risa Hontiveros was a woman of low moral character. It was hypocritical of the man to make such comment when he had just been arrested for preying on underaged girls.
It will be remembered that the senator, in her capacity as chair of the committee on the protection of women, initiated the investigation that led to a number of victims coming forward to narrate their ordeal.
The testimonies gathered in the Senate committee hearing left Justice Secretary Crispin Remulla no choice but to file the cases, and that led to the issuance of arrest warrants against Mr. Quiboloy and his co-accused.
Mr. Quiboloy acted as if he were dictating the terms of his arrest. He and his co-accused appeared in public covered from head to toe, all wearing caps and hiding their faces with scarves, thus defeating the purpose of the press conference.
How can the public be sure that the right persons are being presented to them?
The PNP Custodial Center took Quiboloy’s mugshots, but was it really necessary to blur the image for public consumption? The DILG secretary has since released Mr. Quiboloy’s photos without alteration, and rightly so.
Even Donald J. Trump, former president of the United States, had his rogue’s gallery photo released the way it was taken, following his surrender to the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office in Georgia.
In the US, where the law is sacrosanct and its violation is taken seriously, the accused is made to perp-walk before the media, so called because the person hops like a frog with his legs, as well as his hands, bound with cuffs. Mr. Quiboloy is facing similar charges in the US, which is why he is in the FBI’s Most Wanted list.
Is extradition in the works?
The President says the Philippines will try the accused first and, if convicted, he will have to serve his sentence in the country’s penitentiary.
It is certainly a politically correct decision. However, some quarters express concerns that Mr. Quiboloy, who is incredibly rich, would bribe his way to exoneration. Admittedly the court has frozen his assets, but he must have billions stashed away in banks outside the country, and with the judicial system so corrupt, everything is possible, including access to his deposits abroad.
Far-fetched? Maybe the court will find him guilty of the crimes, but then the country could end up electing the wrong president — it almost always does — in the next election, and that president would find it in his or her interest to issue a pardon, maybe to win the support of KOJC members, who their leader claims, number in the millions.
Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, when she was president, pardoned former president Erap Estrada, who had been serving time for plunder. Ms. Macapagal-Arroyo herself was, in turn, released from detention by an equally corrupt president, Rodrigo Duterte.
The better option, according to people who have grown cynical about the country’s judicial system, is to extradite Quiboloy to the US, where due process means not only respect for the right of the accused to be presumed innocent until proven guilty, but also to satisfy the universal demand for swift resolution of the case.
In that country, there is no cash-for-freedom for rich inmates, under the guise of early release for good behavior, as what took place in 2019, a scandal that led to the suspension of around 30 Philippine Bureau of Corrections officials.
Likewise, it will be highly unlikely for Quiboloy to buy special treatment from the warden or bribe the guards in the US to facilitate his escape. – Rappler.com