The politics of intimidation

By Artchil B. Fernandez

Fugitive pastor Apollo Quiboloy, without doubt, is the most famous person in the country today, with only Alice Guo, dismissed Bamban mayor, also a fugitive, staking the same claim. Both are linked to the Dutertes, directly or indirectly. Quiboloy is a personal friend of the Dutertes, while Guo is a poster girl for Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGOs), a pet project of the Duterte administration.

The Philippine National Police (PNP), for the second time, entered the headquarters of Quiboloy’s Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KOJC) this week. The sprawling 39-hectare compound is in Buhangin District, Davao City. The police are serving arrest warrants to Quiboloy, who is wanted for child abuse, sexual abuse, and qualified trafficking cases. A Davao City court and a Pasig City court issued arrest warrants for Quiboloy and four other associates – siblings Ingrid and Cresente Canada, Jackielyn Roy, and Sylvia Cemanes.

Quiboloy is also on the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) wanted list after he was indicted in a US court for a sex trafficking scheme that coerced girls and young women to have sex with him under threats of “physical and verbal abuse and eternal damnation.” A federal warrant was issued for Quiboloy’s arrest on Nov. 10, 2021.

The controversial and high-profile case of Quiboloy highlights the rottenness of the justice system in this country. Ordinary persons without connection are immediately arrested and thrown into jail once an arrest warrant is issued. Rich, famous, powerful, and well-connected persons like Quiboloy, in a similar situation, contemptuously mock the law. In the case of Quiboloy, he has legions of fanatics who can be summoned to rally for him and powerful patrons to shield him from justice.

As the search for Quiboloy in his headquarters unfolds, the Dutertes slammed the police action taken against their friend.

Former president Rodrigo Duterte denounced the deployment of 2,000 police personnel to arrest his spiritual adviser. “Our country has never been in a more tragic state than it is today. Rights have been trampled upon, and our laws derided. We call on the remaining decent and patriotic members of our government not to allow themselves to be used and to be abusive and violent in enforcing illegal orders.” He decried the “political harassment, persecution, violence, and abuse of authority” and “the reign of fear and terror by people sworn to uphold the law and protect the citizens of this country.” His daughter made a similar statement.

Vice President Sara Duterte condemned the “gross abuse of police power” in the search for Quiboloy. She finds the “use of violence against the innocent Filipinos and devotees of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ” unacceptable. “These acts are not only a blatant violation of constitutionally protected rights but a betrayal of the trust that we, Filipinos, place in the very institution sworn to protect and serve us,” she said.

In a dig into her former ally and partner, Sara Duterte expressed regret in endorsing her running mate. “This is why I am asking the forgiveness of all members and devotees of the KJC for pleading with you and requesting you to vote for Bongbong Marcos Jr. in 2022,” Inday Sara declared. “You deserve better. Filipinos deserve better.”

The father and daughter duo deplored the politics of intimidation deployed by the current administration against their friend. It is also being used against them.

One can only gasp in disbelief at the rebuke of the politics of intimidation by the Dutertes. During the six-year rule of the elder Duterte, intimidation and violence reigned supreme. The “kill, kill, kill” policy enshrined in the bloody and gory war against illegal drugs slaughtered thousands of Filipinos. His violent approach to solving complex social problems like drug addiction landed him in the International Criminal Court (ICC). He ruled by and through violence. “Hitler massacred three million Jews … there’s three million drug addicts. There are. I’d be happy to slaughter them,” he once proudly declared.

The Duterte patriarch’s glory in violence and intimidation was his primary method of dealing with perceived enemies. Now that the same method he once heartlessly employed is used against his “spiritual adviser,” he cried foul.

Like his father, Sara Duterte also delights in violence and uses it to impose her will. As Davao City mayor, she punched Sheriff Abe Andres in 2011, who was only enforcing a court order. Andres took four blows in the left eye, the face, and the back from Inday Sara. She was proud of what she did and was not even punished for obstructing justice. “I don’t care,” she arrogantly blurted if she will be cited for contempt.

In this week’s budget deliberation, Sara Duterte sparred with members of the House, many of whom were her former allies on her office’s budget. She refused to answer questions, complaining that the budget hearing has now become a tool of political harassment. The politics of intimidation is again on full display.

It is comical, but it hurts to laugh to see the Dutertes decry and rail against the use of intimidation and violence they once championed. Their denunciation is hollow, shallow, and hypocritical. They once ruled the nation and still rule their home turf through violence and intimidation. Duterte politics is violent. Acting like they are allergic to violence and intimidation is not only insincere but deceitful and duplicitous.

Should the Dutertes gain power again at the national level, they will be more violent than before. The revenge of the Dutertes will be bloody, gory, and fierce. Just ask the national democratic left who was once allied with the Dutertes. Their tormentors, particularly the Marcoses, know and are terribly scared of this nightmare.

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Congratulations to Dan Joseph Solas, Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, University of the Philippines – Diliman, Cum Laude