A FEW DAYS AGO THE Commission on Elections (COMELEC) approved the candidacy of jailed Kingdom of Jesus Christ Pastor Apollo C. Quiboloy. The approval is premised on the fact that while Quiboloy is facing several charges in court including a non-bailable one, his cases are still being heard and conviction, if there is, is way, way far.
So where will the good Pastor align himself with? While he is carried by an organization purporting to be a political party, we are not certain if the same is already accredited by the poll body. With him behind bars, campaigning will definitely be a big problem. So, if the religious leader really wants to win, or even just make his candidacy relevant, he has to find ways to be carried by a legitimate political party.
It is our take is that the likelihood is Quiboloy will endeavor to be included in the ticket of his close friend former President Rodrigo R. Duterte, the PDP now headed by actor-senator Robin Padilla. Will his name’s having been in almost everyone’s mouth during his fugitive days and the highly covered execution of his arrest warrants, work in the Pastor’s favor? This we will know when the official campaign period starts.
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In a recent interview by the media FPRRD reiterated his standing order to the police during the implementation of his war against illegal drugs.
He said that he never ordered the police to kill any suspected person engaged in the drug trade. But the former President admitted that he ordered the lawmen to make sure that when their own lives are in danger it would be better if they kill the drug suspects than losing their own lives. Personally be believe that there is nothing wrong with that order. After all who would like that the policemen who would have the opportunity to defend themselves from the attacks of suspected criminals or drug merchants would just allow to be at the mercy of the enemies’ bullets for fear of violating human rights.
Unfortunately for the former City Mayor of Davao and former President of the republic, every time he issues warning to the illegal drugs manufacturers, big-time distributors down to the street retailers of drugs, he uses the first person “I.” In effect he becomes personally associated with the deaths during his war on illegal drugs.
Even the killings done by those engaged in the illegal trade due to turf rivalry, non-remittance of sales proceeds, suspicion that some of those working for the marketing of the drugs are police assets are all attributed to the former chief executive.
We even suspect that most of the killings of drug personalities were perpetrated by the drug syndicates. Say, those whose bodies were wrapped in plastic bags or masking tape with notes left that he or she was into drugs and should not be imitated, ended up assumed as victims of extra-judicial killings by law enforcers. We are certain that their brutal deaths were mostly the handiwork of the killing machines of drug syndicates. But with the notes taped on their cadavers it is made to appear that the policemen were the perpetrators.
Of course it is a given that during the drug war years there were a number of law enforcers who, for greed of money, worked with or allowed themselves to be used by the drug merchants to facilitate their trade. Some even went to the extent of acting as the drug syndicates’ executioners – all in exchange for the good life.
But since the former President was exceedingly vocal about his campaign and often times used language that unknowingly implicates him, the country’s human rights advocates are zeroing in on the then chief of state.
Now the former President is in a bind. Knowing him though, we are certain he could wiggle himself out.
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For now we have yet to know the final list of candidates for councilors in our very own Third district.
We are certain that there are some re-election seekers, a few come-backing, and several new comers. Perhaps a number of the candidates are outsiders of the Hugpong sa Tawong Lungsod, the local administration party. There are also those who will align themselves with mayor-aspirant Karlo Nograles.
When we will have the final names that will be the time that we will make our choices. We can only hope that there will be candidates who are most deserving of the support of the electorate of the third district.
