By Robert B. Roque, Jr.
I don’t believe Pastor Apollo Quiboloy will be attending the Senate investigation. It’s clear Quiboloy feels untouchable, shielded by power and privilege in his very own kingdom in Davao City.
But in doing so, his refusal to face the music in the congressional hearings is a testament to his cowardice. Even with an arrest warrant looming, he’ll likely remain holed up in Davao, surrounded by sycophants and enablers – first among them the former president Rody Duterte himself.
Last Wednesday, he released his recorded message on social media and dismissed the rape accusations against him with an extra sauce of arrogance. Pinag-aagawan daw siya ng mga babae! That’s a fat slap in the face of justice.
He also accused the United States, which for 10 years has been hot on the trail of his alleged criminal life, of plotting to kill him on Philippine soil instead of having him extradited.
The cracks in his sanity, though, are not a new discovery. It’s no surprise that his accusations reek of paranoia. Soon, I believe Quiboloy’s delusions of invincibility will be greeted with harsh reckoning. In short, lumiliit na mundo mo, brod!
Who’s scared of EDSA?
Pro-administration trolls have bashed the small gatherings of yellow-wearing citizens on the 38th anniversary of EDSA People Power – the bloodless people’s uprising that toppled the dictatorial regime of our president’s father and namesake, Ferdinand E. Marcos.
“What a pitiful sight,” some of them say. But what’s really pitiful is that we have citizens who have forgotten the lessons of EDSA. What’s shameful is that police in Cavite, Laguna, and Naga City were reported to have quashed protests on the day that celebrates people’s freedom and democracy.
Is Bongbong Marcos’ government too terrified of its own people that obedient lapdogs in uniform are necessary to stifle dissent?
Senate spa
Firing Line is here for Senator Nancy Binay in calling out inappropriate behavior in the offices of Congress, particularly on the social media post of Mariel Rodriguez Padilla’s activity while in the office of her husband, Sen. Robinhood Padilla.
We’ve all heard Mrs. Padilla’s excuses and justifications in her recent post, but they are as feeble as they are absurd. Her attempt to justify her intrusion with a flimsy alibi of supporting her husband’s Eddie Garcia bill does not justify her using the Senate office as a stage to promote “healthy treatments.”
For heaven’s sake, the Senate is an office of public trust, not a spa for her vitamin drips or a stage for her online selling antics. Sadly, she would not have known any better since her husband, too, is the only senator who grooms his moustache in the middle of legislative hearings.
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