Best news under the Marcos administration

Can anything go wrong under the current regime?

Last Aug. 24, a 2,000-strong Philippine National Police force raided the cultish den of Pastor Apollo C. Quiboloy, to serve his arrest warrants on human trafficking charges. The fugitive leader went into hiding to elude what he considers as a United States-sponsored operation.

In light of ex-Mayor Alice Guo’s stealthy exit from the Philippines, strong efforts are underway to pursue the pastor and place him in state custody. On Aug. 25, Vice President Sara Duterte called out the police for its allegedly brute display of force in the Quiboloy compound. “These acts are not only a blatant violation of Constitutionally protected rights, but a betrayal of trust,” Duterte said in a statement. She also lamented how the state now flexes its muscle to clamp down on Duterte supporters, including the cult members and those associated with the former President.

Dear heavens, this might be the best news I have received so far under this administration! Persecuting the Dutertes, for whatever reason, is a clear sign of serving karma after six years of their rule. What a way of serving their own brand of justice! Imagine how, in a single term of office, the Dutertes had managed to initiate a phony drug war that tolerated the acts of drug lord Peter Lim, the cleansing of the critical press through legal maneuvers, and the silencing of critics—not by force, but by trolls.

What a fitting downfall of a dynasty that ironically gave a boost to President Marcos Jr.’s candidacy, the administration that now seemingly seeks to take them down. I laud the law enforcement agencies for exercising their duty to convict a wanted criminal. They have not forgotten, at least for now, how Quiboloy is on the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s most wanted list for a slew of charges. I appreciate how the police and current officials stand their ground amidst Duterte claims of the Marcos administration being an American puppet.

Maybe it’s Duterte’s way of covering up his crimes? Or a way to dumb down his legion of (political) followers, or warning those who work for his arrest? This is too much for the Dutertes to bear; too much as well for me to watch and enjoy.

Despite my elation, these developments are not enough if the Dutertes were to pay fully for their crimes. I want to see them weep. No, wail: wail over the price they now have to pay for allowing two dynasties to be conjoined in their pyrrhic victory. I look forward to watching them scream and cry over tasting their own medicine and known tactic—persecution. This is the main method that kept their power locked and in place, which has become their bane, the source of their well of tears now flowing into rivers of anger and fear.

Rolando O. Ng III,

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