HOURS after Kingdom of Jesus Christ founder Pastor Apollo Quiboloy was taken into custody early Sunday evening, there was confusion on whether he was arrested as a culmination to a 16-day standoff that pitted the Philippine National Police with the members of the KOJC.
Government officials initially said the pastor had been arrested. It made sense.
After all, they had been pursuing Quiboloy for a long time. There was a warrant of arrest which the PNP had been trying to serve on Quiboloy’s person outside the KOJC compound.
But lawyer Israelito Torreon said no; Quiboloy made “the ultimate sacrifice.”
“He could not bear to witness a second longer the sufferings that his flock was experiencing for many days,” Torreon said of the pastor accused of sexual abuse and qualified trafficking, among others, both in the Philippines and in the United States.
“Surrender,” of course, means that the pastor, out of his own volition, gave up his person to the authorities. It conveys a willful submission to the law which one supposedly respects.
An “arrest” sounds otherwise, pointing to a resistance or refusal to be taken. Unfortunately for the person being arrested, he was overpowered. Defeated. Humiliated.
A surrendering pastor making the ultimate sacrifice on behalf of the people who follow him and regard him as some divine entity is more palatable to his supporters. What a poignant narrative that can be shoved down the throats of those with the misfortune of not knowing how to verify their leaders’ claim.
But he “surrendered” because he was told he must do so, or face other consequences. In any case, with the objective of the word play being obvious to all, does the difference even matter?
Beyond the word-twisting and face-saving attempts, what we should be looking at now is the plain injustice of somebody being so influential that he could avoid the long arm of the law, in the comfort of a fortress and under the protection of a powerful entity, for a protracted period.
And who now has the gall to say he was magnanimous enough to surrender out of concern for his people.
We can think of other examples where words have been twisted and exploited to achieve a political aim.
People must see through how the rich and mighty employ all means available, even their facility with words, to sway public opinion.
But they cannot get away with so many things and not be caught – or, prevailed upon to surrender.
Ultimately, they will be exposed for what they truly are, outside of the names and titles they bestow upon themselves.
