In spite of the police vowing, they won’t “be pulling out until we have him,” other government agencies can’t just sit back and not be ready in case fugitive Apollo Carreon Quiboloy disappears.
Not only prepare but they also must act quickly should the self-styled “son of God” continue to elude arrest and pull another embarrassing Alice Guo great escape.
Given that Quiboloy is thought to still be in the sprawling Kingdom of Jesus (KoJC) compound in Davao City, it is probable he could break through the tight police cordon around it. Granting, of course, that he is still somewhere within the 3,000-hectare property. At this writing, police insist he is holed up inside in a yet undiscovered bunker.
At any rate, effecting an arrest in Davao would be far better for all than Quiboloy pulling off a surreptitious escape.
Which makes it urgent that Quiboloy’s arrest shouldn’t be left entirely to the police. Other government agencies should get their act together in case Quiboloy and his five co-accused pull a disappearing act.
Take for instance the matter of Quiboloy’s passport.
Unlike in Guo’s case, no one in government has remotely suggested cancelling Quiboloy’s passport even this late in the day. The government by now should have realized they’ll need to act faster than they did in Guo’s case.
When the Palace ordered the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to cancel Guo’s passport, Guo was already reportedly in Singapore or Indonesia.
The DFA also found its hands tied because canceling Guo’s passport couldn’t be easily done without court approval.
The DFA, therefore, needs to thoroughly apprise itself of the Quiboloy case now. And, if warranted, quickly recommend to the Palace the cancellation of his passport, if only to immediately address the lengthy legal process involved. Normal legal procedures are no small concern.
The Department of Justice (DoJ), for instance, last April sought a hold-departure order (HDO) against Quiloboy after courts in Davao City and Pasig City ordered his arrest allegedly for the non-bailable offenses of human trafficking and violation of the Anti-Child Abuse Law. The DoJ can’t unilaterally issue an HDO.
So far, there’s been no news on whether or not the courts have granted the DoJ’s request.
The department, however, has a standing immigration lookout bulletin which, considering that Quiboloy has a private jet, should be enough cause for the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) officials to further tighten their watch over the Davao International Airport and other nearby airports.
CAAP officials also have to explain why the tarmac inside the KoJC compound — which is beside the Davao airport — has a taxiway connected to the airport.
Aside from airports, all Mindanao seaports bear close watching by the Bureau of Immigration (BI), Philippine Ports Authority (PPA), and the Coast Guard.
Tightly watching the seaports comes as a matter of course following revelations last week by the arrested Shiela Guo on how she and her purported sister apparently used the fabled southern backdoor for their escape.
In detailing her escape before senators, Shiela Guo said she, Alice Guo and Pogo-linked personality Cassandra Li Ong traveled from Tarlac and then boarded a “small white boat” in an unnamed port to start their undetected journey.
And, apparently without much ado again, they transferred to a fishing vessel somewhere and sailed for four or five days before transferring to yet another boat that eventually took the Guos and Ong to Semporna, a seaside community in Sabah, Malaysia.
If true, the Guos’ escape should serve as a serious case study for the BI, PPA and the Coast Guard.
The BI, for instance, should quickly tap their Malaysian counterparts for help in looking out for Quiboloy and his co-accused in Semporna and other Sabah ports.
But whatever these agencies do, it must be made clear to them that we can’t have a repeat of the Guo caper.