THE lives of Pastor Apollo C. Quiboloy and the members of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KOJC) are now in danger.
This is how former CPP-NPA-NDF cadre Jeffrey “Ka Eric” Celiz described the bounty placed by the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) against the spiritual leader of the KOJC.
According to Celiz, because of the bounty hunting promotion by Benhur Abalos, criminal groups have been given the opportunity to attack and carry out operations against innocent civilians.
“Because of the spirit of encouragement of vigilantism and the bounty hunting promotion against Pastor Quiboloy, many criminal groups might take advantage of this.”
“They could be used by the police or government establishments to commit violence against Pastor and justify such violence, including killing Pastor and his ministers and attacking the Kingdom of Jesus Christ compound.”
“These are criminals, but it is instigated and premeditated because of an illegal and immoral bounty,” Jeffrey “Ka Eric” Celiz said.
He added that even when the CPP-NPA-NDF’s leader, Joma Sison, was still alive, they had already targeted the good pastor, along with former President Rodrigo Duterte.
“They have long targeted Pastor Quiboloy and even Pres. Duterte. For one reason: Pastor Quiboloy is the only high-profile personality with a religious congregation who is also involved in a very popular media that people embrace to fight against the CPP-NPA-NDF.”
“That is undeniable. And Joma Sison, when he was still alive, did not hide this and called for Pastor Quiboloy and former President Rodrigo Duterte to be targeted,” Celiz added.
Ka Eric’s statement stemmed from the information received by KOJC that the NPA and retired uniformed officials were allegedly planning to raid the KOJC religious compounds.
For KOJC legal counsel Atty. Israelito Torreon, while it is the government’s mandate to enforce the law, it should still follow the proper process because we no longer live in the old times.
“However noble your intention may be, we are no longer in the times of Clint Eastwood, like in Texas back then, where bounty hunters carried out arrests. That cannot be allowed here because we are governed by law. Arrests, as a general rule, can only be implemented by police authorities. Citizens’ arrests, supposedly, as a general rule, apply only in flagrante delicto cases,” according to Atty. Israelito Torreon, Legal Counsel, KOJC.
P10M bounty endangers Pastor Apollo’s life─KOJC legal counsel
For Atty. Topacio, the ₱10 million bounty did not help; instead, it endangered the life of Pastor Apollo.
“If I may just add, the point I raised in one of my interviews is that by putting such an unwarranted and unprecedentedly high bounty or reward, you make the subject of the warrant fair game for everyone who wants to earn P10 million.”
“In other words, you put a target on his back, you endanger his life. That’s what I’ve been saying, right? That’s what they didn’t want,” Atty. Ferdinand Topacio, Legal Counsel, KOJC stated.
Former NTF-ELCAC spokesperson Dr. Lorraine Badoy emphasized that President Bongbong Marcos has done nothing but destroy the law.
“Yeah, I remember when Pres. Duterte took office, his number one priority was for us to be a country that follows the law.”
“So, now I’m seeing all of this and I can see the vigilantism that Atty. Torreon, Atty. Topacio, and Eric are talking about. All that hard work of the Duterte administration is really going down the drain because of this president [Marcos]. He is destroying our institutions and our country,” Dr. Lorraine Badoy, Former Spokesperson, NTF-ELCAC said.
