So two more co-accused of Pastor Apollo Quiboloy in the child abuse case he and his alleged cohorts are facing have surrendered to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI)? And still the authorities have no clue as to the wanted religious leader’s whereabouts?
Well, the Pastor’s co-accused must have realized that they do not have the means and connections to dodge the law while the government is still hot on their trails. Yes, unlike the pastor who has the resources, logistics, and connections the surrendered co-accused do not have and they cannot afford to go in hiding for long. And possibly they already felt “abandoned” by the person who they may have owed allegiance to.
Of course with Quiboloy’s resources at hand and ready for his disposal, and with his connections in government, it is either he is still in the country – possibly still in Davao – or already out in other nations other than the United States.
May be it is worth reminding the lawmen that the Pastor has churches in several countries. He has one in Hong Kong where his sect has a good number of followers who seem to obey his dictum with blind obedience.
So, it would not be surprising if one day soon we will be hearing reports that the Pastor is already in this or that country seeking asylum or is already given one.
And that would make his arrest even harder although not impossible. Quiboloy’s case though is far from comparable with that of ousted Congressman Arnulfo Teves who is a declared terrorist. Therefore, Teves’s applied host country may have serious reservations in granting him asylum.
Quiboloy’s case on the other hand, has yet to be proven in court that he is indeed a child molester. And depending on how he would play his role in a foreign country and government and with his followers in the country he will go, would make his desire for asylum easier.
Meanwhile, the people are closely monitoring the progress of the NBI and allied law enforcement groups in their tracking of the hiding religious sect leader.
Of course they are also closely watching what is going to happen with Quiboloy’s religion knowing that there is no known alternate leader or even a hierarchy of leadership in his Church.
His church has also established some businesses and even educational institution that are doing very well. Will these flounder with the continued absence of the Reverend Pastor?
“Let us to see”, according to the late Davaoeno senator Alejandro Almendras. Yes, “tan-aw-awon nato.”
****************************
We congratulate the Davao City Council for passing an Ordinance declaring Mt. Apo as a Geo Park with the end in view of having the mountain included in the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) world heritage list of global geo parks.
From the way the Ordinance is worded it appears that the area declared is the entire Mt. Apo. But we haven’t read in the ordinance as reported in the local media any concurring ordinance from the local government units that have dominion of some parts of the mountain. Say, a large portion of Mt. Apo belongs to the Provinces of Davao del Sur, Cotabato (North) and Bukidnon.
But there is no mention in the local statute of any coordination meetings among local legislative bodies regarding the Davao City Ordinance.
Thus, we cannot help but ask which specific areas are covered by the Davao City Council Geo Park declaration ordinance? If there is no similar and harmonized local laws from the other LGUs concerned with the same purpose, then the likelihood is, it will be just another “to each his own” exercise.
The other LGUs may even consider the Davao City Ordinance an intrusion into their domain.
