Quiboloy scared of city jail
DETAINEES are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a public trial. But they might as well be guilty. Our detention system is among the most rotten in the world.
Jail visitation is difficult for family and lawyers. Even if you don’t get inside the cells, the decay and overcrowding of facilities is easily made known by the stench of human decay and disease.
Sadly, the subhuman conditions in our jails have led to many premature deaths, hastened by the defeat of the human soul and the apathy of people in high places.
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Some people would rather evade justice and hide, aware that detention in this country can be worse than death.
And who knows better of this system than those who run the jails?
The Philippine National Police reported on Saturday said that Jail Senior Supt. Ricardo Zulueta, one of those wanted for the killing of radio journalist Percy Lapid, has died of cardiac arrest while hiding from the authorities. He was only 42 years old.
He took the risk and attendant stress of running than be detained in facilities that he knew first-hand to be hell on earth.
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Apollo Quiboloy has not presented himself to face simultaneous investigations in the two houses of Congress. He has made himself scarce despite the threat of getting arrested for contempt.
Senate or house detentions of recalcitrant resource persons are usually not prolonged or uncomfortable.
In Quiboloy’s mind, however, him being in the Senate premises makes him easy to locate and get transferred to ordinary jails in the event that judicial warrants of arrest are issued against him.
Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla has ordered his prosecutors to file a criminal information for sexual abuse of a minor against Quiboloy in Davao City, and another criminal information for qualified human trafficking in Pasig City.
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In cases of this type the judge normally does not grant bail unless prosecution evidence is weak.
By experience, bail petitions are not resolved within a year. The case of Sen. Leila de Lima, who got out of jail after almost seven years, is a prominent example.
In the meantime, accused persons languish in jail while their cases are being heard. This is the same prospect that Quiboloy faces. If he does not know already, his lawyers would certainly have told him of his dreary fate – years spent in squalor as he approaches the twilight of his life.
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So, if you have the resources to run, what would you do?
Zulueta was brought to the hospital by his brother and common- law wife. That means that he is just around, eluding arrest despite the notoriety. Gen. Bantag, his principal co- accused, remains at large and is laughing at the authorities.
Former Congressman Arnolfo Teves was issued a warrant of arrest for multiple murder in September last year. He is free and continues to video himself castigating the government for untold sins.
Quiboloy must be willing to carry the same burden./