By Alex P. Vidal
“Drama starts where logic ends.”—Ram Charan
WE don’t know what will happen next to a Manila lawyer defending wanted religious preacher, Apollo Quiboloy, after he insulted the world’s most powerful federal investigative agency.
In a statement aired February 6 on Philippine broadcast media, Atty. Ferdinand Topacio accused the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the United States Government of “playing politics”, or “trying to smear President Rodrigo Duterte” supposedly to “undermine the candidacy of Sara Duterte.”
Topacio might justify his disruptive behavior by saying that “I am only doing my job,” but we admire the guts of a frog to pick up a fight against the elephant “because it’s part of my job.”
The FBI, the principal investigative agency of the federal government of the United States responsible for conducting investigations in cases where federal laws may have been violated, of course, ignored the lawyer.
FBI will never degrade its reputation by bothering to answer Topacio.
The likes of Topacio don’t merit any serious attention from reputable investigative institutions and law enforcement agencies because their motives are suspect: they are paid to make a noise in order to muddle legitimate and meritorious cases and camouflage the real issues against a client wanted for “sex trafficking of children, sex trafficking by force, fraud and coercion; conspiracy; bulk cash smuggling.”
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Topacio apparently wanted to divert the people’s attention from reports that his disgraced client, the 71-year-old spiritual adviser of President Rodrigo Duterte, is now listed as one of the FBI’s “most wanted”.
“We all have to be in a state of abject denial to say that the United States has not been interfering with our elections as far as we can remember,” said Topacio as he accused “some sectors” in the US of throwing the monkey wrench on the Philippine elections.
“Indirectly, it is undermining the candidacy of Sara Duterte. Indirectly, it may be undermining the candidacy of Bongbong Marcos or whichever candidate the United States does not want to win in this country,” he added.
Topacio wanted to make those who heard his tantrums against the FBI and the United States as fools.
The issue here is sex trafficking of children, sex trafficking by force, fraud and coercion; conspiracy; bulk cash smuggling allegedly committed by his client Quibiloy, et al.
He probably wants us to believe that “the FBI or the US Government will fabricate cases against his client in order to damage President Duterte so that the president’s daughter who is running for vice president will lose.”
Topacio needs to study Logic 101 again.
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HE has been habitually and excessively using the name of the Lord thy God in vain to gain power and enrich himself.
Quiboloy, described by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) as a “diabolical wolf in a sheep’s clothing”, even went to the extent of claiming “he talked to God.”
Because he thought he could fool most of the gullible faithful most of the time, he gained power and amassed wealth through immoral and illegal means and got away with it over the years.
Because he underestimated the intelligence of some people he used as pawns and sacrificial lambs for his carnal desires and money-making machinations, many of them disastrously fell for his false charm.
Every time he went afoul with the law, he would cry “persecution” and invoke the Bible if not directly the Divine Providence.
A perfect strategy to further mesmerize the unsuspecting blind followers.
(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two local dailies in Iloilo.—Ed)
