EDITORIAL - Short arm of the law

The arm of the law is looking short these days. Apollo Quiboloy, wanted for multiple offenses including the non-bailable qualified human trafficking, remains at large. The failure to serve warrants for his arrest at his sprawling Davao estate that is home to his Kingdom of Jesus Christ ministry has reportedly led to the relief of at least 15 Philippine National Police officers, and is believed to be among the reasons for a major PNP reorganization in Davao City.

Over in Luzon, Mayor Alice Guo of Bamban, Tarlac has also vanished from the municipal hall and her residence, although she recently surfaced on Facebook to insist on her innocence. The mayor may soon lose the post as the Office of the Solicitor General has filed a quo warranto petition for her ouster, while the Commission on Elections is also preparing a case that would invalidate her election. Both cases are based on what authorities say are fraudulent documents on her citizenship as well as her suspected links to criminal activities in a Philippine offshore gaming operator hub in Bamban.

This week, Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian said even baptismal certificates supposedly issued by the San Roque parish church in Caloocan to Guo’s alleged brothers Wesley and Seimen are fake, as attested by the parish priest himself. Arrest orders have also been issued to the two brothers and their other relatives – Sheila and Jian Zhong Guo – as well as the Chinese woman suspected to be the mayor’s mother, Wen Yi Lin.

Are Quiboloy and Guo still in the Philippines? Authorities think so, since there are no records of their departure from the country. As the nation has seen in previous cases, however, the country has porous borders especially in the south, where people can easily take a boat or fly by private plane to neighboring countries. Those tasked to enforce arrest warrants need to intensify their efforts to show that the arm of Philippine law is long enough.