We agree with those who said that the excessive fielding of some 1,500 to 2,000 policemen to arrest Kingdom of Jesus Christ Church (KOJC) founder Pastor Apollo C. Quiboloy last Saturday, Aug. 24, was indeed, as Vice President Sara Duterte said in her official statement, a “gross abuse of police powers” and a “blatant violation of the Constitutionally-protected rights” of a citizen.
And we agree as well with some observations that employing such a large number of law enforcers just to arrest one or five men is not warranted as the main subject of the arrest order is not a terrorist and does not have any known armed followers but only avid “listeners” to the Pastor’s evangelization.
But we cannot also blame the police official who is tasked to effect the arrest warrants as his previous experience in an earlier attempted serving in the same KOJC compound along the C.P. Garcia Diversion Highway was frustrated by an avalanche of fanatic KOJC supporters. They set up a human barricade that prevented the policemen from getting inside the compound.
So the possibility was that in last Saturday’s attempt Police Regional Director Brig. Gen. Nicolas Torre III was only trying to balance the force that he thought might be waiting for them to “come and get” their leader-in-hiding. The Saturday “raid” though appeared that the General was already more forceful and determined to execute his job whether the Pastor’s fanatical followers and legal advisers would allow the warrant server team entry or not.
Sensing the futility of denying the police access to the 30-hectare KOJC compound and the possible implications, the policemen were eventually allowed access. Using the so-called “heartbeat detector” gadget Torre III insisted that the Pastor was still inside the compound but could be hiding in some secret underground tunnels. As of late Saturday night, however, the police claimed that they have only covered in their search roughly 30 percent of the whole compound and the facilities thereof. But still, not even a shadow of the elusive pastor was seen.
For us though we believe that a continuous search of the Pastor in any of his houses or buildings in Davao City will only be an “exercise in futility.” He could not be hiding in areas where the eyes of the law enforcers are focused. We are certain that he has been “accommodated” by some friends of his in the sanctum of their abodes that are beyond the reach of the lawmen despite their “nearness” in distance to the police headquarters.
But of course even if the lawyers and other supporters, or say “protectors” of the fugitive Pastor are crying harassment on the “raids” conducted on the main KOJC headquarters, in their minds they are actually “celebrating” it. Why? It is because the combing of the religion’s main headquarters is one effective smokescreen that bars the police from having an idea where the real hiding place of the Pastor is. And the media mileage appears to be tilting in their favor.
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Meanwhile, over the past months, or even a year or so, there have been at least three or four highly sensational cases where lawyers, in their desire to ensure that their clients are given justice, have unnecessarily allowed themselves to be dragged into the controversies. Who could possibly forget the massacre in Negros Oriental that included as a victim – and possibly the primary target – the Governor of the said Province. The suspect is the now ousted Congressman Arnulfo Teves.
Then we have the cases against the recently ousted Mayor of Bamban, Tarlac for her alleged involvement in the operation of an illegal POGO hub in her town. Also. almost at the same time came the issuance of warrants of arrest on Kingdom of Jesus Christ Church (KOJC) Pastor and founder Apollo Quiboloy.
The lawyers of the accused in all these three cases eventually became the “faces” of the accused after all of them had gone into hiding. They became the authorized spokespersons, the accused’s defenders even outside the courts, the main venues where they can lay down their defenses for their clients and seek justice after the former acquired jurisdiction over the person of the respondents.
But now, these lawyers want their desired brand of justice for their clients acquired by them and not dispensed by the proper courts. Therefore, they now become major components in the controversies generated by the cases filed against their clients. They somehow willingly allowed themselves to share with their clients the heat generated by the cases their clients are into.
With the situations attendant to the highly sensational cases with leading lawyers handling the defense of the accused, we cannot help but be reminded of an anecdote on General Ulysses Grant of the Union Army during the American Civil War.
According to the anecdote, which for purposes of better understanding and reference, we have “innovated” a little, the General was marching through the forest under the chilling winter cold. Along the way, he came across a log cabin. He saw that there were a number of middle-aged men gathering near a bonfire.
When General Grant approached the group and asked permission if he, along with his men, could take a short rest from their long walk, the men introduced themselves as lawyers.
Looking at the General whose appearance looked disheveled and extremely untidy, they asked him, “How is it General at the battlefields? General Grant made a curt reply: “Oh, you’re much better off here. All lawyers near the fire; we in the battle fronts are in the line of fire.”
Levity aside, for all those who think seeking justice for the accused in all the very sensational cases now dominating the mainstream media, the social media platforms, the air lanes, and even the “Maritess” world, we suggest that you find time to scan the Facebook page and search for the post of retired regional prosecutor Atty. Antonio Arellano. In the said post he disclosed where and when real justice sought by those who believe is due them can rightly and fairly acquire – the court of law.
