Davao tragicomedy

Instead of making an impression that the rule of law is taking its course, the siege of the vast estate of Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KoJC) cult leader Pastor Quiboloy reminds Filipinos of the helplessness of government against moneyed or influential fugitives.

Brig. Gen. Nicolas Torre III, Police Regional Office-Davao (PRO-11) Director, should call off the search conducted with 2,000 police units to serve Quiboloy’s warrant because it is just making a mockery of law enforcement.

Torre believes that using overwhelming force will convince Quiboloy, who his followers claim to be hiding like an elusive rodent within the 30-hectare KoJC paradise, to make his appearance and surrender.

The commotion created by such a huge force sparked mayhem that resulted in the death of a KoJC follower presumably out of heart attack from anxiety after the start of the aggressive police raid.

Torre was wrongly advised about maintaining a huge contingent in the compound until they obtain Quiboloy since the cops are expected to perform peacekeeping duties elsewhere.

The moro-moro also brings to mind the inability of the government to catch high-profile suspects like former Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo, former Negros Oriental Rep. Arnolfo Teves Jr., and dismissed former Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) director general Gerald Bantag.

The big fishes’ ability to effortlessly elude arrest and accountability reflects on the public confidence in the government.

In a country already notorious for the snail-paced turn of the wheel of justice, the recent incidents such as the fugitives slipping out of the border with the alleged help of some powerful forces who represent themselves as defenders of the law only reinforce the great divide in the society on the application of justice.

Since those fleeing the reach of justice are faced with charges that require their detention, the suspected offenders employ their resources not to defend themselves but to skirt or use the system.

Means that are beyond the reach of simple Filipinos are displayed in full view, which in the case of Quiboloy are the telecast of the police raid live the entire day through the Internet using his own media network.

Thus, the police’s demand for accountability has been drown out by the calls for responsibility over the use of excessive force. Allegations that money or manna from heaven being doled out by the Appointed Son of God are making matters worse.

People are using simple deduction to answer the question of what can stop the powerful machinery of government dead on its track?, if not buttering some influences to delay the flow of justice.

The KoJC siege even looks like part of the Quiboloy circus that is playing out.

It is hard to fathom that 2,000 personnel of the Philippine National Police cannot determine whether or not one person is inside an identified place no matter how vast it is.

Torre even made himself look ridiculous by claiming that his troops are employing modern equipment that detects a heartbeat to scan Quiboloy’s kingdom. How can the police official know the signature of the preacher’s heart, or does he since it could carry a divine imprint?

Torre might even believe that he is up against the supernatural in the search for Quiboloy, thus, the need to empty Davao of its police force by bringing them all in the KoJC compound.

The police officer, however, could be under a lot of pressure from his superiors to produce Quiboloy thus the need to create a spectacle for his arrest. Not since the arrest of former President Joseph Estrada for plunder in 2001 did the public saw an overkill in the massive police deployment to go after one individual.

The deployment smacks of police theatrics and is backfiring on the Davao police officials who seem to not get their act together to serve a warrant of arrest on one individual.