OPINION | Dealing with Quiboloy

September 3, 2024 , 09:45 PM

By Manny Mogato

(September 3, 2024) — Apollo Quiboloy is giving the Philippine National Police (PNP) in Davao City a lousy image.

For more than 10 days now, the police could not locate and arrest Quiboloy, who faced human trafficking and sexual abuse charges in two local courts and in the United States.

However, it was not easy when hundreds of the preacher’s followers barricaded Quiboloy’s Kingdom of Jesus Christ compound near the Davao International Airport.

It’s also not easy when the man who proclaimed himself as the “appointed son of God” gets protection from the “god” of Davao City.

The police must tell Quiboloy and his blind followers that no one is above the law by enforcing the law.

The police must also arrest those who obstruct the law, including local public officials helping Quiboloy and his followers, including those who sent packed meals and water to sustain the barricades.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s reputation as a leader has been tarnished by the weakness of his law enforcement agencies to put people behind bars who were ordered arrested by local courts or by the legislative branch of government.

Former prison chief Gerard Bantag has been roaming communities freely in the Cordillera mountains after he and a subordinate were indicted for the murder of journalist Percy Mabasa.

Former congressman Arnolfo Teves Jr. could not be returned to the country after he fled to East Timor for the murder of Negros Oriental governor Roel Degamo.

Guo Hua Ping, who claimed to be a Filipino named Alice Leal Guo, also fled the country and is believed to be in Indonesia, where her two associates, Cassandra Ong and Zhang Mier, were arrested.

Zhang has also pretended to be a Filipino and an elder sister of Guo Hua Ping, using the name Sheila Leal Guo.

The swift arrest and deportation of Zhang and Ong in a shopping mall in Batam by Indonesian immigration authorities shamed local authorities who could not take into custody Bantag and Quiboloy.

There is a common denominator as to why these fugitives – Quiboloy, Bantag, Guo, and Teves – continued to elude the law – Rodrigo Duterte.

Somehow, all four had connections with the former leader.

Quiboloy is the closest. He is not only from Davao City. He is the former president’s spiritual adviser and close friend.

Bantag, a Philippine National Police Academy graduate, had served as head of the Bureau of Corrections under Duterte.

Teves was a staunch political ally of Duterte when he was president, while Guo had business links with some people close to the former president.

As long as they remain free, the four fugitives would give a bad impression on the leadership of Bongbong Marcos and the ability of law enforcement agencies to get them.

In the past, the police had strongly enforced the law with other religious cults.

In 2002, 23 members of a cult who were supporting San Jose, Dinagat mayor Ruben Ecleo Jr., were killed when they clashed with police that served an arrest warrant on their leader.

Ecleo was charged with parricide for killing his young wife in Cebu. He was also convicted by an anti-graft court, a ground for his expulsion from the House of Representatives.

Jey Rence Quilario, a cult leader who his followers believed was the reincarnation of Jesus Christ, was brought to the Senate from his place in Siargao without any violence last year after he was accused of sexual abuse.

However, Duterte’s presence in Davao City and the full support given by his children, including Vice President Sara Carpio, to Quiboloy may have affected how the PNP was trying to deal with him.

The Davao City police had shown too much leniency in facing defiant Quiboloy followers.

The police can use reasonable force to dismantle the KOJC barricade, comb the compound, and find Quiboloy.

But, in the public’s best interest, Quiboloy should voluntarily give up, face the charges, and fight his legal battle squarely.

Quiboloy, who loves to quote the Holy Scriptures, said fear no one when God is on your side.

Then, he should be brave enough to face the laws of men when he is indeed on God’s side.

Quiboloy has repeatedly said he would surrender as long the Philippines does not turn him over to the United States.

His fears are unfounded. He has to serve a jail term in the country if the courts find him guilty, but he will not be extradited to the US as long as he has cases in the Philippines.

And why would Quiboloy fear US courts? Does he believe he can get away quickly in the Philippine judicial system?

Like his friend, Duterte, Quiboloy fears the justice system in the West.

Whether in the US or the International Criminal Court in The Hague, the two friends avoid them.

They are indeed friends. They are birds of the same feathers that flock together.

*The views expressed by the columnist do not necessarily reflect that of the media organization.

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