What is it with people in high-ranking positions in this country, be they in the public or in the private sector?
Are they so different that they deserve special treatment? Do they not bleed when you prick them? Do they not have to eat, drink or sleep?
Come to think of it, the main difference between them and the vast majority of the population of a 110 million people is that they have money and power and the rest of us don’t.
According to the Philippine Institute for Development Studies, only about 1.2 percent of the households are categorized as “wealthy.” To say that the country suffers from income inequality is the mother of all understatements.
But guess what? You strip away the money and power from them, and they’re just like the rest of the hoi polloi.
I guess that’s what happened to Pastor Apollo Quiboloy, founder and leader of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KOJC).
The self-proclaimed “Appointed Son of God” and the “Owner of the Universe” seemed untouchable a few months ago.
Not only did he repeatedly refuse to cooperate with government authorities into alleged human rights violations, he also ignored the warrant issued by the Senate last March for his arrest, prompting the Department of the Interior and Local Government to offer a P10,000,000 bounty for information leading to his capture.
It wasn’t until last Sept. 8 that Quiboloy was apprehended inside the KOJ compound in Davao City.
For more than two weeks, he and his supporters endangered the lives of our men and women in uniform who were tasked to bring him in, forcing the Commission on Human Rights to remind them to “refrain from harassing civilians who are simply performing their duties.”
But before I continue, Quiboloy, under the law, is innocent until proven guilty. This column is not about his legal battles, rather it is about what he and his ilk expect from the rest of society.
You see, after what he had put the government through by defying its orders, he had the temerity to request for either a house or hospital arrest, citing his medical condition.
His requests were denied, but his lawyer said they would file a motion for reconsideration.
See what I mean?
Quiboloy and co-accused Ingrid Canada are detained at the Philippine National Police Custodial Center in Camp Crame over charges of qualified human trafficking and child and sexual abuse filed by former KOJC members.
Imagine if they were lesser mortals. There would have been a sting operation and all those involved would be hauled in jail in no time. It wouldn’t have taken more than six months. Trust me.
Let’s face it, though. In the real world different rules apply to different people. That’s just how it is.
By the way, I just learned that the KOJC has a nongovernment organization called the Children’s Joy Foundation Inc. that is registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission and accredited by the Department of Social Welfare and Development.
Despite the recent flak the group has received because of its founder’s personal travails, it has and it continues to reach out to the marginalized, providing refuge to the “neglected, abandoned, orphaned and dependent children.”
I am pointing this out because the group has been demonized by some sectors. And yet I don’t see the same vitriol against other Christian denominations that have committed far more heinous crimes.