After the end of the saga of controversial Pastor Apollo C. Quiboloy with his “surrender” to the authorities four days ago in Davao City the sympathies of individuals or groups are easily discernable through their comments and/or reactions posted on social media mostly on Facebook.
Most of the bone of contention being debated is on whether or not Pastor Quiboloy was arrested or surrendered himself to the authorities. Another thing being contended is who deserves the credit of having the then fugitive Church leader finally allowed himself to be placed under the jurisdiction of the courts.
All these contentions from either of the groups sympathizing with government, specifically the Police, and those who overtly gave theirs to the Pastor remind us of the adage, “Success has many fathers; but failure is an orphan.” And if we may add, there are those who are so enamored to endorse this or that person, or this or that group as the more deserving to become the “father” of success. And worst, there are those who are too willing to endorse themselves as among the “father” of the success. This is now what seems to be happening as aftermath of the Quiboloy saga.
Really, it is hard to imagine that some observers are insisting that Quiboloy was not arrested by the Police at the Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KOJC) compound along the C.P. Garcia Diversion Road. They claim that the Pastor and his four other co-accused were hiding somewhere in Cotabato Province and motored to Davao City accompanied by an official of the Philippine Army Intelligence unit.
Quiboloy, according to his sympathizers, was brought to his private hangar at the Davao City Airport where he surrendered to a 2-star General of the Intelligence Unit of the Army. The Pastor-leaning people together with lawyer Israelito Torreon strongly manifested that the Police who were literally occupying the KOJC compound for 16 days have nothing to do with the Pastor’s surrender. Therefore, they do not deserve any credit to the KOJC leader’s decision.
Then we read a news story about Davao del Norte Governor Edwin Jubahib telling the media in a supposed interview that he was contacted by the members of the KOJC Board to bridge them to the top army official heading an Army command based in his province. The governor said the KOJC Board would want to relay the desire of the Pastor to surrender but only through the Army’s intelligence unit and never to the police. He told the media that he gladly obliged.
Meanwhile, in a press conference in Manila where the Pastor and his co-accused where presented to the media by no less than Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Benhur Abalos, Police Regional Office (PRO) XI Director Brig. Gen. Nicolas Torre III shared a more credible and much likelier true scenario. Torre was the ground commander of the police troops that searched the 30-hectare KOJC compound for over two weeks.
Without claiming that his policemen were able to bodily get hold of the Pastor and any of his co-accused, Torre said he received orders from the higher ups to allow the fugitives to board a convoy of vehicles that will bring them to the hangar where the formal surrender will be done immediately prior to the bringing of the KOJC leader and his co-accused to Manila.
Torre insinuated that the Pastor’s decision to give up to the Army Intelligence Unit could have been brought by his realization that the police were already positive as to his exact hiding place and that they were ready to enter it, even if forcibly, when his issued 24-hour ultimatum for the Pastor to surrender will expire.
Actually we are personally inclined to believe the PRO XI chief’s assertion. After all, if the then fugitive Pastor Quiboloy and the four others were really holed up in Cotabato, why in the first place will he risk coming to Davao and surrender at his hanger? He could have opted to motor to Camp Awang in the outskirts of Cotabato City and meet the Intelligence General of the Army there. And the Camp has an airport capable of accommodating a C-130 military airplane.
Really, such opinion postulated by Torre during that last Monday’s press conference in Manila was revealing. And nowhere in any segment of that meeting with the media did we hear Abalos claiming Quiboloy’s surrender was all due to the efforts of the Philippine National Police. He congratulated the Police, yes. But the Secretary also openly stated that the Pastor’s “surrender” was a result of the law enforcers’ – the Army included – group efforts.
But why prolong the debates on whether the controversial Pastor was arrested or “surrendered” himself to the Army intelligence group and not the police; or whether he was hiding in his compound or in the fastness of the Province’s jungle (or “luxury” of a Cotabato facility).
After all, the most important objective of the Police and the Army is already attained. That is, to bring the accused Pastor and his four other cohorts to the custody of the courts, the only entity that can give him the justice he is seeking that he claimed while still in hiding “denied” of him..
So, let the trial begin without further delay.
