On Mar. 20, 2025, Sen Alan Peter Cayetano showed that he can be as good as detained Pastor Apollo Quiboloy in securing divine appointments. While Quiboloy presented himself as the appointed son of god, Cayetano introduced himself as an “ambassador of the Lord” during the hearing presided over by Sen. Imee Marcos to inquire into the arrest of the unlamented ex-president Rodrigo Duterte on March 11.
“Gentlemen, ladies, pardon my introduction. I’m not imposing this on you. This is my personal code. More than being Alan Cayetano, or a senator, a former secretary of foreign affairs, a former speaker or congressman, I believe I am an ambassador of the Lord Jesus Christ,” Cayetano declared. Of course, the good senator did not present his “Lettre de creance” or letter of credence to formalize his ambassadorship, and the Holy Spirit was not around to confirm Cayetano’s divine task. Similarly, St. Peter lost the appointment papers of Quiboloy, whom Baptist preachers thought needed some shrink for claiming that God talks to him.
With Cayetano and Quiboloy around, we should worry about the contagion that is sweeping the nation. Recently, Sen. Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go y Tesoro also thanked the Iglesia Ni Cristo (INC) for what he regarded as the firm stance of the sect on the issue of Duterte’s arrest. INC spokesman Edwil Zaballa declared that church wants legal processes to remain free from political manipulation, in effect following the Duterte talking points that the arrest was illegal, subversive of due process and an abdication of the country’s sovereignty. “Kung ano ang tama at kung ano ang nasa batas, ‘yun sana ang pairalin. ‘Wag pilipitin. Hindi sumasang-ayon ang INC sa anumang hakbangin na hindi sang-ayon sa batas. Sinumang Pilipino ang may ginawang paglabag sa batas, dito dapat litisin. Nagtitiwala ang INC sa integridad at kakayahan ng hudikatura. Pairalin ang katarungan.” (What is right and what is in the law should be upheld. Do not twist it. The INC does not agree with any actions that go against the law. Any Filipino who has violated the law should be tried here. The INC trusts the integrity and capability of the judiciary. Let justice prevail.)
The law, indeed, is hard but that is the law. The law says Zaballa is wrong since the ICC’s jurisdiction covers crimes against humanity, including genocide, and ethnic and religious cleansing. Zaballa may be going ballistic over the treatment of Duterte but did the INC ever care about the thousands of the victims of the drug war, not one of whom was subjected to arrest but gunned down mercilessly? In January 2025, the INC also mobilized its warm bodies to tell the government not to pursue the impeachment of Sara Zimmerman Duterte Carpio. Now, the INC is telling the government, the ICC, and the community of nations bound by the Rome Statute that Duterte be tried in the country.
From 2016 onwards, the only convictions handed down against the death squads were for the murder of Kian de los Santos out of the 30,000 summary executions in the purported drug war. Such a wonderful accomplishment for the judiciary under Duterte’s thumb. And INC is crying to high heavens for the “harsh” treatment of Duterte, who was flown to The Hague 12 hours after he was accosted at the airport, but was mute when the murders were going on for six bloody years. Neither scripture nor moral precepts can be invoked for INC’s silence.
In his usual sophomoric statement, Go pounced on INC’s message, raising it as “reflective” of the sentiments of many Filipinos “who may be apprehensive about expressing their views.” This, of course, is a lot of pablum since surveys conducted after the arrest showed only 25% of respondents questioning the arrest based on a warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC.) “Maraming salamat po sa suporta at pagmamahal sa Pilipino,” Go said. “Sa ganitong panahon ng kaguluhan at pagdududa, napakahalaga ng mga boses na naninindigan para sa batas at kapayapaan. Unahin po natin ang kapakanan ng mga Pilipino at ipaglaban ang interes ng bayan.”)
Borrowing from the INC position that it stands for the rule of law and peace, Go doesn’t clarify anything since Duterte himself admitted there was a valid warrant. The Philippines was duty-bound to implement the arrest order based on a Philippine law, Rep. Act No. 9851, enacted in 2009, and even customary and conventional international law. The law provides for the surrender or extradition of suspects or accused persons in the Philippines to another state or international tribunal. The senator is back again to his old vice, firing off statements without understanding the intricacies of the Mar. 11, 2025 incident. Go is again riding on the INC as his shield and he gets media mileage for spewing the same old amphibology of his press releases that strangely regularly land in the pages of several newspapers. With Go profusely thanking INC and with Cayetano acting as the Lord’s legate, the Senate will be populated by religious zealots. Frankly speaking, adding a Quiboloy to the mix will spoil the broth.
“Ambassadors don’t have opinions,” Cayetano said, adding that envoys merely echo the position of their principal — in his case, the good Lord. “So, when we pray the Lord’s Prayer — ‘Your kingdom come here on earth, as it is in heaven’ — you are actually aligning your government and your culture with God’s culture and God’s purpose. The simplest is: do good or promote good, and prevent evil,” he added. Cayetano justifies the drug war killings by saying that for the Duterte supporters, they promote peace and order and thus are a way of “doing God’s will of promoting good.” For critics, the topnotch lawyer argued, “even if a person is a pusher and addict,” the person does not deserve to be killed. So, it is a matter of interpretation, never mind the trampling of due process, the mangling of human rights and the Ten Commandments. Or is he saying that it is actually Hegel’s battle of two rights that turned the world upside down and made people like Cayetano walk on their heads? (DIEGO MORRA)
