Tuesday, May 06, 2008 Ledesma: In defense of Apollo C. Quiboloy By Jun Ledesma Sunbursts
THE last thing I would expect this time of food crisis and summer floods is the surprise assault on the man of peace and of God.
I am referring to the reverend pastor Apollo C. Quiboloy whose good name is dragged into the vortex of controversy involving the death of a lumad datu. There is more than just what meets the eye in this issue and I hope that the authorities will be able solve this murder to clear the air of ugly rumors.
One cannot help but suspect that the smear campaign on ACQ is not politically tainted. The whole world knows that the pastor is an intimate friend of Mayor Rodrigo Duterte. There is a strong bond of friendship between the two and it is not farfetched that some quarters are exploiting the murder case to discredit any of the two or both.
No, I don't think that Pastor Quiboloy will be interested in the land of the datu as some quarters claim. That land is within the National Park and it is a protected area. It maybe part of the ancestral domain but still it cannot be subjected to any form of agricultural or commercial activity without getting the ire of the DENR or for that matter the council of elders of the Indigenous Peoples in the area.
It is therefore inconceivable that the good pastor will be involved, personally or by proxy,as the NPAs hinted. It just does not stand to reason why ACQ will be interested in that speck of land, which is too far away from his prayer mountain in Tamayong. But one thing is certain.
The NPAs has no love for some of the members of ACQ who signed in the civilian volunteer organization (CVO) who were trained by Task Force Davao to help secure the possible entry points of criminal elements from the conflict areas in Western Mindanao. They are part of the so-called "tripping points" set-up by Mayor Duterte against terrorist elements wanting to gain entry to Davao City poblacion. We cannot fault the mayor for sealing that ingress either. It is good for our health unless you are one who does not bother about the peace and order condition of the city.
The problem with some of our brother IPs is that prior to the full implementation of the Indigenous Peoples Republic Act, a number of them sold their landholdings to just any speculators. Well, as many of us would know by now that many of them not only sold their lands to several layers of land speculators who in turn thought that they had hoodwinked the unschooled "natibo". Problem is when a buyer intends to guard what he bought with his life and guns when the land disputes become life threatening.
But Pastor Quiboloy is not into this foolishness. He is busy building a new cathedral for his growing flock, and not into land grabbing. He feeds thousands of children, clothes them, sends thousands more of out-of-school children and youths to school and not depriving them. He provides opportunities of livelihood to the depraved and not denying them.
He is pro-life and an avid environmentalist. That's why he put up a solid stand against aerial spray. That is why this claim about his interest in that piece of land inside the national park runs dramatically opposes to this stand and to his unflinching faith in God. And that is why I believe the pastor more than the purveyors of unkind rumors, which he does not deserve. Spare him.
