SPIRITUAL TANDEM

 

"In good times and bad times, I'll be on your side forever more... that's what friends are for." – Burt Bacharach & Carole Bayer Sager

PRRD-QUIBOLOY

Together with Philstar Edith Regalado, let's cast a brief look at the Sunday dinner date of PRRD and his spiritual adviser Pastor Apollo Quiboloy. At the latter's Kingdom of Jesus Christ's headquarter, PRRD chatted with his ally for many hours over dinner of sour fish stew, sautéed munggo beans, and fried dried fish. The duo talked about retired Supreme Court Justice Antonio Carpio and Sen. Manny Pacquiao -- both criticized PRRD on the West Philippine Sea.

Accompanied by Sen. Bong Go, PRRD told the pastor, as his Cabinet had advised, he would not debate Carpio. PRRD appeared to be relaxed while laughing with his long-time Pastor-friend who posted on his FB: "He is not just my mayor, he is not just my friend. He is my brother. We've been friends for 30 years, ever since the time when I only had 15 members..." As the popular beer catchy slogan goes: "Iba ang may pinagsamahan."

Today, officially declared as one of the most wanted suspected sex traffickers by the US, Quiboloy, aka "appointed son of God," "Sir," "Pastor," and "ACQ," is wanted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for conspiracy to engage in sex trafficking by force, fraud and coercion, sex trafficking of children, conspiracy, and bulk cash smuggling.

According to the FBI wanted poster, "it is alleged that females were recruited to work as personal assistants, or 'pastorals,' for Quiboloy and that (the) victims prepared his meals, cleaned his residences, gave him massages, and were required to have sex with Quiboloy in what the 'pastorals' called 'night duty'." Moreover, prosecutors in California announced allegations that he and several others had sexually abused female church members aged 12 to 25 in exchange for privileges as well as avoiding "eternal damnation." His multimillion-dollar assets have been documented as ill-gotten.

The self-proclaimed "Appointed Son of God" claimed he stopped an earthquake by simply yelling at it. PRRD said he believes the Pastor's claim and sees nothing wrong about it, and he's hoping he could possess the same power. Quiboloy also warned that the world will suffer a fate "much worse than the Omicron virus" if he is continuously "hurt and persecuted... flesh-eating bacteria immune to any vaccine" will descend upon his alleged persecutors. On the flip side, Quiboloy claimed he chose not to stop a typhoon ripping across the country in its track because he was criticized and ridiculed for his previous claim of stopping an earthquake.

For sure, we may deem Quiboloy as a wacky pastor, yet this former United Pentecostal Church member has claimed 4 million "Kingdom citizens" locally and about 2 million followers abroad. His main Cathedral is located at PRRD's Davao corral -- obviously he has endorsed his long-time friend's daughter's candidacy and her BBM-Duterte UniTeam.

EMPEROR NICHOLAS-RASPUTIN

More than a century ago, a Quiboloy's spitting image cast a shadow over late Imperial Russia in the uncanny character of Grigori Rasputin. Like Quiboloy, Rasputin was a self-proclaimed holy man. Just as Quiboloy befriended PRRD, the latest President of PH, so too Rasputin befriended Nicholas II the last Emperor of Russia. Both spiritual mentors gained considerable influence for being in spitting distance with their respective powerful mentees.

In his article "Rasputin: Sex, Superstition, Hypnosis and Religion," J.C. Scull wrote, "Rasputin gained popularity as superstition, faith, and religion became fashionable throughout Russia... Many in Petersburg high society believed strongly in the strength of Rasputin's prayers... Before long, Rasputin was being showered with attention and often with cash donations. Slowly, the peasant monk began to change. He began to see himself as someone who was destined to do something great and good for the Tsar and Russia."

Rasputin met Emperor Nicholas and Empress Alexandra to become a healer for the imperial couple roused by the Empress' belief that Rasputin had the power in easing the pain and stopping the bleeding of their son Alexei's hemophilia. Dr. S.P. Fedorov, one of Alexie's physicians, made sense of Alexandra's seeing Rasputin as a miracle man: "Rasputin would come in, walk up to the patient, look at him, and spit. The bleeding would stop in no time... How could the empress not trust Rasputin after that?" (Wikipedia)

Like Quiboloy, Rasputin's true stripes were unveiled thereafter. Douglas Smith in his book "Rasputin: Faith, Power and the Twilight of the Romanovs" wrote, "He began to attract acolytes with his earthy wisdom and fluency with Scripture. His most devoted followers were women, with whom he seemed overly intimate, kissing and stroking their hands, and accompanying them to public bathhouses... His scandalous behavior with society ladies and prostitutes, his unseemly intimacy with the royal family, and his influence over policies and appointments had the effect of eroding the authority of the czar."

Publicly and deeply reviled, Rasputin was assassinated. History has judged him for the downfall of the last czar of Russia. Strangely, the royal couple never lost faith in Rasputin. Smith narrated, “Alexandra told Nicholas that Rasputin continued to pray for him from the afterlife.” And when the whole imperial family was executed including their four daughters, book reviewer Steven Lee Myers wrote, “Each wore an amulet bearing a prayer and a picture of Rasputin – the dynasty followed the monk to its grave.”

No one knows the fates that await PRRD and Quiboloy besides the signs of things to come from the International Criminal Court in Hague and the Federal Bureau of Investigation in the US. Former President Donald Trump had his share of this wacky fixation. His spiritual adviser, mega-church pastor, and televangelist Paula White-Cain who preaches “prosperity gospel,” called on “angelic reinforcement” from the continents of Africa and South America for help to reelect Trump and stated later that “demonic confederacies… are attempting to steal the election from Trump.”

We know what happened to Trump’s debunked “Stop the Steal” claim: it led to the US Capitol January 6 insurrection in which one Trump supporter confessed, “Stop the Steal” movement is like a “cult.” The looming midterm election, come November this year, is brewing in the US. This striking sight would seldom fail to invite the passerby’s interest -- a campaign catchy slogan painted on a bus: “Jesus, Guns, Babies” – a seeming mobile job search ad for would-be spiritual advisers.

VELARDE-MARCOS JR.?

Back to PH: “And now the end is near, and so I face the final curtain” goes the popular line of a classic song.  PRRD-Quiboloy spiritual tandem’s curtain call is at hand. Only when history reveals the truth will both grasp the reality that they have bitten off more than they could chew. I hope both will face their respective fates and stand tall.

For the next PH political life cycle, the national leader-spiritual adviser tandem fixation seems to have spawned another life of its own. We can figure out such an ominous prognosis from this recent headline: “Mike Velarde endorses Marcos Jr. UniTeam.”