Whoever came up with the strategy adopted in searching for fugitive Pastor Apollo C. Quiboloy right in the domain of his own “kingdom” was clearly showing his being naive and amateurish handling of problems dealing with fugitives of the law.
Or he or she could be overly engrossed in reading the history of the Second World War where the main culprit of the upheaval in the European theatre, German Chancellor Adolf Hitler, was known hiding inside an impenetrable bunker during the last few days of the war, and of course his own life.
This is our personal take on the raging controversy resulting to enhancing further the enmity of the political camps of former President Rodrigo R. Duterte and incumbent President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr.
We are drawing this out on the surface because we believe that what the Police have done as the days of their search supposedly to serve the warrants of arrest on the religious leader and some four of his co-accused, are now tactics that are beyond one sane man’s imagination to be resorted to.
No, we are not referring to the thousands of policemen deployed in all nooks and crannies of the main headquarters of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ Church of the Pastor. We are actually supportive of such scheme as for us it is a deterrence to the possibility of violence in the perimeter of the compound as well as inside.
And why are we in accord with the fielding of more uniformed men? It is because the lesser the number of law enforcers guarding the vicinity while the search for the Pastor is being conducted chances are the loyal KOJC followers will get bolder in challenging the policemen. They could even possibly do some mugging of the members of the PNP if they know there are only a few of them.
What then could possibly be the recourse of the policemen when they feel their safety is at risk? Naturally, they might have to be more defensively aggressive. What then is likely to come as consequence? Injuries, even deaths could result when confrontations happen.
That is why we believe that while the mere number of law enforcers deployed could be considered an “overkill” we still believe that it was the best way given the situation and the fanatical behavior of the followers of the beleaguered Pastor.
However, what to us is the real “overkill” are the police digging the grounds of the KOJC compound on suspicion that the elusive sect leader and four others are believed holed up in some underground bunker or tunnel whichever the Police would want to call the alleged hiding place.
As far as we are concerned though, such action just to serve the arrest orders is grossly ill-advised. Why? Common sense dictates that if there is a bunker or tunnel, it has to have entry points and exits. First, how can one get inside the bunker or tunnel to hide if there is no way going inside and out? Second, how could air get into the bunker or tunnel if there are no entries and exits? And finding the holes or openings is much easier and sans controversies compared to digging the grounds to look for the bunker or tunnel. And mind you the police are digging several holes without permit from appropriate offices! And considering the number of multi-story edifices inside the compound, the wanton digging done could surely compromise the stability of the ground where the buildings are erected.
Then came this “Johnny come lately” thing. After conducting several diggings without positive results despite the police being aided by high technology search gadgets, they requested for copies of the plans of the buildings erected inside the compound.
As expected, the request was not granted. Who will? After all, the City of Davao appears to have been drawn into the Quiboloy arrest order imbroglio as it appears one vehicle for the administration to get back at its current nemesis – the Dutertes of Davao City.
Moreover, who would have thought of considering the request for copies of building plans when the police authorities have already done their things inside the compound disregarding the appropriate procedures?
Now back to our contention that it is much easier to find the entries or exists of the bunkers or tunnels underground than by boring holes. Why not the police, using their number, search every square meter or inch of the vacant grounds and floor spaces of buildings? For certain they will find what they are looking for.
Of course it is a totally different story if the police are far from serious in implementing their mission to arrest the Pastor, and are only made the tools in further heating up political conflicts among certain vested interest in Philippine politics.
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Talking of the police arresting fugitives, we can see how grievous are the mistakes of certain officials in the police organization and the agency where it is a component – the Department of the Interior and Local Governments (DILG)
.Imagine how well DILG Secretary Benhur Abalos and PNP Chief Gen. Rommel Francisco Marbil treated ousted Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo while she was about to be flown back to the Philippines the other evening after her arrest in Indonesia. The two officials allowed Guo to act like she was not an arrested person. Instead she was treated like a movie personality given by Abalos the most cordial greetings ever to an arrested escapee. Even Filipino and Indonesian media men and Immigration and police personnel had asked the arrested Guo for photos with her. She was not even hand cupped.
Above all, the government even went to the extent of chartering a private jet to ferry Guo back to the country supposedly to face the unfinished Senate probe on her alleged involvement in illegal POGO operations and related infractions of the laws.
When can some of our top government officials stop committing such undesirable demeanor in dealing with moneyed law violators – they who could have been the source of campaign contributions and still could be.
