The ongoing violent confrontation between the police and members of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KOJC) highlights how those in power use those in vulnerable sectors of society for their own interests. Several hundred followers of Pastor Apollo Quiboloy, KOJC leader, poured into Davao City streets after the police entered the group’s compound on August 24. This entry was the second attempt to arrest Quiboloy on charges of human trafficking, child abuse and contempt of court.

“The heinous cases (of Quiboloy) are merely symptoms of a larger sistemic disease that has long infected the corridors of power,” Bagong Alyansang Makabayan-Southern Mindanao Region (Bayan-SMR) said. “Their (Marcos and Duterte’s) performative gestures of concern for human rights and justice are nothing but a smokescreen, designed to obscure their own culpability in perpetuating a system of oppression and inequality.”

Bayan-SMR said Ferdinand Marcos Jr’s lip service to justice is insulting when he does not recognize the thousands who were tortured under the fascist dictatorship of his father Marcos Sr and the continuous suffering of the Filipino people under his neoliberal rule. On the other hand, the Dutertes reigned over Davao City and cultivated a culture of impunity that allows, if not actively encouraged, the emergence of criminal elements like Quiboloy. Apart from the current cases filed against him in the courts and in the US, Quiboloy is known for land grabbing, eviction of Lumads and murders, all with the blessing of the Dutertes.

“Both the Marcos and Duterte camps are complicit in a political system that thrives on the exploitation of the poor, the silencing of dissenters, and the perpetuation of feudal power structures,” the group said.

The group calls on Dabawenyos to unite and fight all forms of oppression, whether in the guise of religion or politics.

“We must hold Marcos and Duterte accountable for their role in perpetuationg injustice and inequality,” it said. “We must organize at the grassroots level, building people’s movements that can challenge the entrenched power of political dynasties and corrupt leaders.”

It said this is not merely a conflict between rival factions of the elite. “It is a struggle between the oppressed masses and a system designed to keep us subjugated. We reject the false choice between competing oppressors.”