Some friends of mine encouraged me to write again but I couldn't come up with a good topic. I decided to look up current events for some ideas. Imagine my immense disappointment when I discovered that the topic of the day was the trials and tribulations of Apollo Quiboloy.
What a nice topic for the Lenten season.
For those who don't know, Apollo Quiboloy is an alleged pastor and the leader of the church called the Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KJC). He also calls himself the "Appointed Son of God" and claims to have the power to stop earthquakes and TV networks. Must I go on? Is there really a need to elaborate? You probably already have some idea of what kind of person he is. Imagine the stock character of the sleazy evangelical / cult leader and you wouldn't be far off the mark.
So why does this clown matter? The KJC practices tithing and claims to have four million members in the Philippines and two million members abroad. Therefore, Quiboloy has the two essential ingredients for power - money and influence. His followers have made him very rich and will vote for whoever he tells them to. He's too big to ignore. True enough, politicians, including presidential hopefuls, court his favor. It's not hard to imagine him and his followers being able to move the needle in the elections of some small municipality or barangay.
Quiboloy is also wanted by the U.S. for sexual abuse and sex trafficking.
Sensing a dying animal, the vultures in congress are swooping in to take advantage of the situation. Rather than let the justice system run its course, the Senate has demanded that Quiboloy appear to explain himself.
Dragging Quiboloy to the spotlight isn't the Senate's job. Yes, the Senate has the power to conduct investigations but it's supposed to do so only "in aid of legislation". Sure, you can make some excuse about how grilling this clown could lead to some legislative breakthrough, if you were an incredibly naive person. The purpose here is twofold: to grandstand at his expense, and to force his supporters to defend him and tar themselves in the process.
My problem is that all of this hubbub is an incredible waste of time. Does the Senate really have nothing better to do? What troubles me is just how naked all of this is. In the old bygone days (10 years ago) the Senate at least made some effort to hide its grandstanding. Now they're not even trying. It really is a circus and they want that spotlight.
Make no mistake, I'm not defending Quiboloy but the Senate is making it extremely difficult not to feel some sympathy. I see this as a private person versus an overreaching government. Imagine if the legislature decided to have some fun at your expense and you can't even "fight back" like you could in court. It'll be a public spectacle, our crucifixion of the condemned. Jeez, Pilate would have given a fairer trial.
Why would Quiboloy even agree to appear in the first place? Going in front of the Senate will not help him or his case in any way. Why go? So they can put a bag over his head the minute he goes in the building?
I'm kidding. There absolutely is a chance he'll appear in the Senate just to showboat. If nothing else, he would love to play the part of the martyred Christ before they take him away. Philippine politics really is insane like that sometimes.
Just ship him to the U.S. and be done with it.
