Second of 3 parts

LAST week's column cited three crimes involving powerful people: former president Rodrigo Duterte, former congressman and deputy speaker Arnulfo Teves Jr., and Pastor Apollo Quiboloy. These high-profile criminal cases have international implications, but they don't matter. Their local deleterious political repercussions have more importance. And considering how the wheels of justice in this country turn and grind slowly, based on similar cases involving the high and mighty, I estimate that social and mass media will determine a short life expectancy until the next controversy supersedes. And out of the public glare, our dysfunctional system intrudes, and in the end, nothing happens. These three would most probably go scot-free, and Philippine jurisprudence will be none the worse for wear. The man in the street will speculate why. Na politika na naman!

Deegong and Quiboloy cases

It is now obvious that the continued investigation of the International Criminal Court (ICC) cases when BBM said he was studying the Philippines' return to the ICC fold triggered Duterte's ire that is now tearing the UniTeam and the political firmament apart. The Philippines under Duterte withdrew from the international tribunal in 2019 after he questioned its authority to investigate his campaign against illegal drugs that killed thousands of Filipinos. The Marcoses, upon BBM's assumption of the presidency, were then fully behind this move. But BBM's reversal was the Damocles sword held over the former president's head, the red line BBM can't cross, sparking vituperative statements calling BBM "bangag," a dope addict, with his two sons artlessly joining the chorus excepting the daughter, Sara, who did not exactly stay in the sidelines — a fact that riled the first lady.

No doubt the cavalier treatment by the Marcos camp of VP Sara, stripping her of intelligence funds from which a substantial portion traditionally and anomalously could be diverted to future campaign funds, to the very public snub by the first lady Liza of Sara added fuel to the political fire now raging between the two political dynasties. Political cognoscenti and pundits see these as the opening gambits for the mid-term elections in 2025 and the ultimate 2028 presidential elections.

As to the powerful ally of the Dutertes, Pastor Quiboloy and his media empire, the Sonshine Media Network International (SMNI), may go the way of a similar Duterte bete noire, the Lopez-owned ABS-CBN. SMNI's disenfranchisement is now going through the wringer in Congress, orchestrated by the powerful Marcos relative, House Speaker Martin Romualdez — the not-so-apparent heir to the Marcos political dynasty. The ASOG Quiboloy likewise has a deadly cloud of uncertainty hovering over his head with his possible extradition to America over a multitude of cases being investigated by the US FBI of rape, child molestation, cash smuggling, and laundering. Urban legend suggests the ASOG may be hiding in plain sight in Davao, protected by his Kingdom of Jesus Christ Church (KOJC) — his and Duterte's bailiwick, where even the uniformed authorities must look the other way. Then again, the finale to all these is substantially in the hands of President Marcos. But politics is the underlying condition upon which these may be resolved.

The case of the ex-congressman

It could be different with ex-congressman Arnulfo Teves Jr. Compared to the previous two; he is a small fish in a pond now undergoing the process of expulsion from Timor-Leste from where he was arrested, living the good life of a rich fugitive. He is not too high up in the national political totem pole to become a headache for the Marcoses, but his clan in the Visayas could prove to be invaluable in Negros Oriental and Visayas politics as he can boast of a distinguished bloodline: former Negros Oriental governors 'Meniong' and Lorenzo Teves, former finance secretary Margarito Teves, brother and former governor Pryde Henry Teves (his election was annulled by Comelec), and assorted local government (LGU) mayors and minor elective officials. These are bargaining chips in our type of transactional politics.

From where we sit, the resolution of these cases depends not so much on Philippine jurisprudence and the fairness of our justice system but on the exigencies and realities and how the pragmatism of politics will unfold these coming months. And these are the prevailing conditions by which this country is now being perceived by our neighbors and tragically even by our own citizenry and which right-thinking Pinoys should be ashamed of.

Will the Deegong be brought to face the ICC and answer for his transgressions — if any — and satisfy the demands of families of the thousands of victims reportedly killed during his regime? I doubt it! He is too politically powerful and has enough clout to prevent being arrested, even if a warrant of arrest comes from the ICC. Currently, he has maintained his high popularity with the Filipino masses, and a substantial portion of the elected senators and congressmen owe him fealty. For the mid-term elections of 2025, he ranks a high second place in the senatorial preference surveys, according to the polls conducted by Publicus Asia. And among those senators who could win, more than half are his minions and allies.

Can he be arrested in Davao? And by whom? The ICC has no police powers or an independent mechanism to enforce arrest warrants and depends solely on the host countries' judiciary systems. Reportedly, ICC judges have issued 40 such warrants in 22 years of existence, and 15 of those to be arrested remain at large. Vladimir Putin himself has an ICC-issued warrant of arrest.

The same may be true with the Deegong's ally, Pastor Quiboloy, as far as his cases in America are concerned. He may not be easily extradited to the US despite the FBI labeling him "wanted in America." He has too many powerful friends elected to the Senate and and the House through the captive votes of his church with a claimed membership running to the millions, not to mention the tax-free millions of church funds under his control. He has boasted that his assets are in the billions of US dollars. And he has the protection of his newly appointed KOJC assets "encargado" — the Deegong himself.

Yes, he could be arrested for the local criminal charges against him, but prosecuting him through the cracks of the Philippine justice system would almost be next to impossible — the reason why he fears the US CIA rendition.

What is imperative for the country is the need for the presidency to display moral ascendancy with a clearly defined agenda to effect change using one's political capital exhibiting political will. It doesn't give the citizenry much confidence and the leadership much credibility when, for example, it is challenged by a former speaker, Pantaleon Alvarez, the Deegong's ally, calling for the military to withdraw support from a legitimate government. And BBM does nothing!

We boast of being the first truly democratic country in Asia when America first planted its system of governance and the underlying concepts of republicanism and democracy, where we uphold the rule of law. Perhaps it is high time to review these standards for their continued relevancy.

First of 3 parts

THREE high-profile cases with international implications are the backdrop for this series on Philippine politics and jurisprudence. These are not run-of-the-mill types, as they involve powerful persons. However, they are not only cautionary tales but also reflections of the kind of justice system that defines the rule of law as applied to Philippine governance.

Fugitive ex-congressman

First is the case of Negros Oriental congressman Arnolfo Teves Jr., who was involved in a ghastly crime caught on CCTV and went viral on social and mass media, exacerbated by the insipid response of government authorities. Negros Oriental Gov. Roel Degamo was murdered in broad daylight on March 2023, along with some of his people, at his residential compound. The congressman, a political rival, was accused of being behind the assassination, although he was out of the country days before Degamo's murder.

A public hearing by the Senate Committee on Public Order and Dangerous Drugs ensued, incongruously labeling Teves a terrorist, though he has not even been charged with any crime.

The House Ethics Committee subsequently held seven closed-door hearings since the killing to tackle Teves' case but merely slapped a 60-day suspension order twice, a cavalier treatment by his colleagues, while Teves was already romping free abroad and gone AWOL, refusing to come home to face the music. Eventually, he was expelled from Congress and charged in court five months after the deed, by which time he had evaded justice and was practically allowed by the system to fly the coop.

Only a year after the murder was Teves finally arrested in Dili, Timor-Leste, while absurdly playing golf. His apprehension was a joint operation of the International Police's (Interpol) National Central Bureau (NCB) in Dili and the Timorese police. Teves was on Interpol's red notice alert, requiring member states to cooperate to collar a miscreant abroad. Teves couldn't be spirited out of Timor-Leste as he used all legal remedies to seek political asylum, which was denied. The Philippines has no extradition treaty with Timor-Leste, but both are signatories to the United Nations Convention on Transnational Organized Crime (Untoc), which could provide a framework for extradition. But a faster way was initiated by the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) by canceling his passport, rendering his stay in Timor-Leste illegal and subjecting him to immediate deportation.

Fugitive 'Appointed Son of God'

The second case involves Pastor Quiboloy, who now has three arrest warrants to his name: one issued by a grandstanding Senate committee for having snubbed the chamber's investigations on his alleged sexual abuses in his ministry; one issued by a Davao court for violation of Republic Act 7610, or the Special Protection of Children Against Abuse, Exploitation and Discrimination Act; and a third one by a Pasig trial court on qualified human trafficking charges. A non-bailable offense, this will bring him directly to a prison cell once apprehended.

On top of this, he is a wanted fugitive — with several other co-accused members of his church — by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for conspiracy to engage in sex trafficking by force, fraud, coercion, sex trafficking of children and cash smuggling.

But in all of this, Quiboloy, while in hiding, had the gall to demand from President Marcos, Justice Secretary Remulla, Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Gen. Rommel Francisco Marbil, and National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Director Medardo de Lemos ironclad guarantees that he not be surrendered to the Americans. He has oftentimes alleged that US authorities have intentions to kidnap or kill him rather than extradite him for trial in an American court.

Quiboloy also claimed without an iota of proof that BBM had already agreed and therefore conspired with the Americans to hand him over to them once in custody, embellishing the tale further by saying that the CIA has arranged for his rendition — a process of illegal transfer, a scheme used to protect the façade of the cherished American justice system (Islamic terrorists were "renditioned" to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba for in-depth interrogation — a euphemism for waterboarding and torture).

As a repartee in a more dramatic fashion, he plays well as a deluded faux martyr; "Unless you give me the guarantee I'm looking for, go ahead and manhunt me. I will not be caught alive!" Quiboloy declared.

Of course, BBM will not oblige. And in a restrained adult response, chastising a child in a tantrum: "We will exercise all the compassion to Pastor Quiboloy; we've known him for a very long time. What I can promise is that all the proceedings will be fair."

Quiboloy's dread is similar to why South American drug lords like the Columbian Pablo Escobar fear extradition to the US. They can't buy or blow their way out of American jails. Escobar intimidated the Colombian government into agreeing to build, at his own expense, his palatial prison — exclusive to him and his cohorts in crime.

And witness the Philippines' overcrowded New Bilibid Prison, where the rich inmates live in luxurious apartment-like kubols protected by a patron or bosyo, top boss inmates with their own servants or "alalay." ("Understanding the Conditions of New Bilibid Prisons: Implications for Integrated Reforms, R.E. Narag, PhD, Southern Illinois University). The ASOG, with his resources, will thrive in such surroundings.

The US Embassy in Manila may not be so cryptic about its intentions either, stating: "For more than a decade, Apollo Quiboloy engaged in serious human rights abuses, including a pattern of systemic and pervasive rape of girls as young as 11 years old, and he is currently on the FBI's Most Wanted List. We are confident that Quiboloy will face justice for his heinous crimes." (Rappler.com, April 6, 2024)

The Deegong and the ICC

The third case involves former President Duterte Quiboloy's close friend, and now the "encargado" of his properties, who has pending cases in the International Court of Justice (ICC) on the killings of the so-called Davao Death Squad (DDS) while he was Davao City mayor, and the war-on-drugs killings during his term as president.

If the ICC issues an arrest warrant against Duterte — which the Deegong is sure is coming — the big question is how the Philippines can enforce such a warrant when the country is no longer a member of the ICC.

But the ICC has an agreement with Interpol (similar to ex-congressman Teves' case). The ICC can also request that the subjects of its warrant Interpol can now request that its 196 member countries cooperate and be put on the red notice alert. If that happens for Duterte, Interpol can now request its 196 member countries to cooperate and possibly arrest and detain Duterte on their behalf.

And there are precedents of notorious individuals, heads of state and political leaders accused of similar crimes, investigated by the ICC and some prosecuted: Omar al-Bashiir, president of Sudan; Laurent Gbagbo, the former president of Ivory Coast; Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto, president and deputy president of Kenya; and Bosco Ntaganda, a former rebel leader in the Democratic Republic of Congo, among others.

How will all this impact the Philippine political landscape and, more importantly, our justice system and the rule of law?

(To be continued next week)

Second of 3 parts

In this malevolent triumvirate version of the Philippine Deep State, the oligarchy and the political dynasty (Olipolidyn) acquire certain permanency and continuity that supersede the third component, those who are constitutionally term-limited, like the president/patron, although the latter's temporal powers have deadly immediate and irreparable consequences when applied. Witness President Duterte causing the downfall of the Lopez family by disenfranchising its flagship ABS-CBN; marginalizing the Rufino-Prieto clan, owners of the Philippine Daily Inquirer (PDI) and who for years were accused of "swindling" the government of billions of pesos for the "illegal" use of the Mile Long complex, a 6.2-hectare Makati property; and Roberto Ongpin's PhilWeb that was forcibly sold for a song to Gregorio Araneta, an erstwhile Duterte supporter and a relative of the Marcoses by marriage.

The Olipolidyn, two different faces of the same coin, if not allied to a sitting strong presidency/patron, may encounter temporary setbacks. But the more dominant partner, the oligarchy, with its vast resources, will always attempt to exert influence over the political dynasties, the running of the Philippine economy, the lifeblood of the country, and, by extension, the levers of government.

Democracy and republicanism

The defective Philippine political structure is predisposed toward rectifying any imbalance ultimately in favor of the oligarchy, tending to concentrate political power on a few as we govern ourselves, a derivative of our cultural and political history forged over the centuries.

The American colonialists introduced republicanism and democracy, the idea of a State, checks and balances, political parties, a constitution, and the subsidiary idea of popular sovereignty, where authority is derived from the consent of the governed, among others. These concepts were overlaid on the Spanish/European 'divine right of kings,' which view was itself piggy-backed on the original Filipino sultanate/datu system of governance. (This will be discussed further in part 3 next week.)

Briefly, republicanism emphasizes a system of government where the head of state (the top patron) and the political leadership are chosen by the people based on their qualifications and merits and perforce is accountable to them. And democracy highlights the idea that government authority should be based on the will of the people and the rule of law rather than by divine right. Further refinements are that the citizenry indirectly participates in decision-making through democracy's most sacrosanct held belief — voting in elections, notwithstanding the necessary precondition that the voters must be educated and discriminating enough to choose from a menu of yet another inviolable doctrine — ideologically differentiated political parties.

These are ideas alien to the Spanish-indoctrinated Filipino natives where for 300 years, authority derived from the rightfulness and legitimacy of the sword and the cross, which in turn had already eroded and perverted the original Filipino patriarchal reliance on native sultans and datus.

These are the evolving anomalous realities over the centuries leading to our homegrown Filipino mongrelized oligarchy, the political dynasties (Olipolidyn), and the top patron underpinned by the iniquities of political patronage (Polpat). These are structured toward the accumulation and concentration of political power.

Political parties and their co-optation

As a class, the Philippine oligarchy, though not itself elected, vies for political power by fielding its own members, co-opt or capturing existing ones, or creating its own political parties. As intended by the dictates of democracy and republicanism, "Political parties are the primary vehicles to gain political power by engaging themselves in political contests, primarily elections. The members and their leadership are expected to adhere to a set of principles and strategies written in a platform unique to that party. This espousal of a vision of governance defines the ideological identity of that party - and therefore, the electorate must be permitted a patent choice - as to who must govern them based on what the candidates and their respective parties stand for." (www.cdpi.asia, CDP/CDM/CDPI manuals)

The oligarchy understands this only too well, and attempts at perverting the whole concept to conform to their interest have been pervasive and, thus far, successful. A case in point is three currently existing ones.

The Nacionalista Party (NP), the oldest Philippine political party founded in 1907, was captured and funded by the real estate magnate and former House speaker Manny Villar, one of the country's richest businessmen when he ran unsuccessfully for the 2010 presidency. The NP subsequently propelled his wife, Cynthia, to be the No. 1 senator in the 2013 elections, with the son, Mark, conveniently ensconced as secretary of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) in 2016 under President Duterte. Mark is now a senator in a mother-son tandem, with the NP's four sitting senators comprising 16.675 percent of the 24-member senate. Daughter Camille is the current deputy speaker of the House of Representatives. The NP has 38 congressmen.

The Nationalist People's Coalition (NPC) was founded in 1992 by the late Eduardo "Danding" Cojuangco Jr. when he ran for president and lost. He was one of the few politically savvy oligarchs who was the late dictator Ferdinand E. Marcos' protégée. The NPC is now under the tutelage of Danding's subaltern, who is now a self-made billionaire, Ramon Ang (RSA). The NPC can boast five senators, 20.83 percent)of the 24-member Senate, 38 members in the lower house, and then-presidential and assorted local government executives (LGUs).

The National Unity Party (NUP) is funded by another billionaire of Spanish heritage and large holdings abroad, Ricky Razon. The NUP was allied with former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (GMA) but later joined PNoy's coalition in 2013, while its other elected members allied with another, the United Alliance (UNA) of then-presidential candidate VP Jojo Binay. NUP counts 38 congressmen in the 316-member House.

The absence of ideologically differentiated political parties and the proliferation of hundreds of single-issue party lists are quirks of the 1987 Cory Constitution, allowing political butterflies or turncoatis ("balimbings") to flourish.

The Olipolidyn are not monolithic and often are pitted against each other, but their goal is the advancement of their private agenda — all under the guise of serving the common good — the pursuit and attainment of power and wealth, the mortar that cements some sort of permanency.

Olipolidyn on local political dynamics

Politicians, whether "wannabes" or incumbents, spend millions of pesos to gain the support of their constituents. As a result, a major consideration of the elected public servants is to recoup their expenditures through all sorts of "rent-seeking activities," leakages in public funds and outright corruption — to the detriment of society's development and public good.

And in our presidential system, where the president, the top patron, is elected at large, he is expected to provide the wherewithal for an expensive election campaign. This opens an aperture for the oligarchy and the moneyed elite to influence the outcome.

To understand better our homegrown oligarchy and political dynasty (Olipolidyn) and their relations with the presidency/patron, the Philippines' rough equivalent of America's Deep State and its role in our lives, we go back to its historical beginnings. Part 3 reprints excerpts from my columns and articles and literature of the Centrist Democratic groups over the years. A particularly relevant item is the "Political dynasty handmaiden to oligarchy" (The Manila Times, Aug. 5, 2020).