‘ASOG’ on the run
When I checked the other day, I found the Sonshine Media Network International (SMNI) of the self-“appointed Son of God” (ASOG) pastor Apollo C. Quiboloy still airing. I thought its franchise renewal was denied because of alleged franchise violations but it is still there. In comparison, how swiftly the axe fell on the ABS-CBN media network during the Duterte presidency, its franchise not renewed and 11,000 plus workers going jobless because … It was a presidential fiat like no other. But life goes on for the beleaguered giant network that is finding new ways to air and be relevant in a big way.
Quiboloy who heads the Kingdom of Jesus Christ group claims millions of followers all over the world who believe what the ASOG preaches about himself, followers who have said nothing about his affluent lifestyle and the alleged accusations of wrongdoing—he is God’s appointed and anointed after all—until members broke away and came out of the woodwork to reveal what they knew and experienced. An aside: I don’t know the theology or logic of it, but why did he name his group after Jesus Christ when he is the de facto Son of God in what he calls the “kingdom age”?
The accusations against the ASOG mean he will have to face the cases here and, separately, in the United States. How these cases will progress and end in judgment and conviction, if at all, will be a good subject matter for a TV documentary series like “Wild Wild Country.”
The Inquirer’s banner headline yesterday: “Hunt on for Quiboloy: ‘No Special Treatment’.” We hope hunting down the ASOG will not take as long as the hunt for former Negros Oriental Rep. Arnolfo Teves Jr. who had eluded arrest for a year but who was finally nabbed last month in Timor-Leste (East Timor) while he was playing golf. He did not resist. Teves and his henchmen are facing multiple murder charges for the killing in March 2023 of Gov. Roel Degamo and nine others. It was a mass assassination like no other, carried out in broad daylight, caught on camera, and witnessed by many. Teves is also accused of killing three other persons in 2019.
Quiboloy’s arrest might be easier said than done. He has allies in high places, the former president and his family no less, and some lawmakers. Quiboloy has a jet, a helicopter, and other means of transport to take him to hideaways in this country and abroad. Former president Rodrigo Duterte who calls God stupid but claims to be the ASOG’s spiritual advisee—whatever that means—stands by him and now serves as the caretaker of SMNI. As Davao City’s mayor several times over, Duterte had, no doubt, allowed Quiboloy’s earthly kingdom to flourish in the foothills of Mount Apo, a protected area. Or perhaps he looked the other way. But that is another story for environmentalists and those who advocate for indigenous people’s rights.
Quiboloy has snubbed the Senate’s summons for him to appear before the committee for the protection of women and children where he could have presented his side on accusations of sexual abuse of minors. The ASOG said he prefers to face the music in court, as in, “So sue me.”
But a time comes for reckoning. May the ASOG’s arrest not result in a repeat of the arrest of the beady-eyed cult leader-turned-politician Ruben Ecleo Jr., leader of the Philippine Benevolent Missionaries Association whose members were referred to as singsingan because of the rings they wore. Ecleo’s arrest for murder ended with corpses littering the Dinagat Island landscape. God knows how many more such cult-like groups will spawn in the years to come. (I have written about cults in several past columns.)
How this predominantly Christian country with a sizeable Muslim population has produced the likes of Quiboloy and Ecleo is something for the books. Lapiang Malaya’s Valentin de los Santos and his Malacañang-bound bolo-wielding rag-tag band of followers who died in a hail of bullets in 1967 during the Marcos Sr. presidency belonged to a different mold. Lapiang Malaya had a home-grown spiritual but nationalistic bend. The group and their date with tragedy were grist for academic, political, and religious treatises.
One thing’s for sure, the long arm of the law will, sooner or later, reach the ASOG to make him face the charges. In the US, he has been indicted for sex trafficking in persons, including children, bulk cash smuggling, etc.
The National Bureau of Investigation operatives’ manhunt is on. Police authorities in Davao City are preparing a place for the ASOG. One of several respondents has been found while two surrendered. Several, like the ASOG, are at large.
You can run but you can’t hide, the saying goes.
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