The Philippine National Police had been trying to serve an arrest warrant on Pastor Apollo Quiboloy, founder of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ, since Aug. 24.
On Sunday, the religious leader was finally arrested.
Quiboloy is facing charges of sexual abuse, human trafficking and bulk cash smuggling, among others, both here and the United States.
Quiboloy’s supporters decried the arrest efforts as an overkill, going as far as applying for a temporary protection order which was granted by a Davao court but nullified by the Court of Appeals.
KOJC members staged vigils expressing solidarity with their leader. In the past two weeks, one KOJC member has died of a heart attack; several others have been injured.
The PNP used sophisticated equipment to look for the pastor in the KOJC compound, with Police Regional Office-Davao Region chief Brig. Gen. Nicolas Torre saying at a hearing last week that they “would not turn their backs.”
As of press time, however, details of the arrest have not yet been revealed.
Prior to the arrest, prominent names joined the fray and condemned the search as an overkill.
The Vice President attended the celebration of the group’s 39th anniversary on Sept. 1, apologizing to KOJC members for endorsing her 2022 running mate with whom she had had a falling out.
The pastor is a known friend of her father, the former president, who quite ironically said: “Rights have been trampled upon and our laws derided.”
A senator insisted police had no business staying for an extended period at the compound.
But these are what exactly make impunity possible in our country: everything appears to depend on political winds. The zeal or laxity of a pursuit could depend on who is in power, or not.
But is it not better to charge, pursue, and punish somebody because they violated some law and committed a wrong against others and against society, regardless of who they are friends or enemies with?
We are all too aware of two extremes: on one hand, weaponizing the law against certain entities, applying inhumane force, violating rights, or committing excesses in the name of peace and order.
On the other hand, authorities could also bend over backward and fawn over those who charm their way into being treated like an Asian pop star.
The events that will transpire after two high-profile arrests in the past few days would indicate whether our leaders would simply sway with political winds — or exercise maturity and a bias for substance. We will be watching.
The middle way is the only reasonable option: accord everyone his, her, or their due, regardless of their representations or affiliations, their demeanor, or even their good or bad timing.
