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Baguio couple jailed!

Davao prosecutor indicts Rillons for libel

BAGUIO CITY (Aug. 26) — How far parents could suffer if only to bring back their only child into their custody and the comforts of their own home is put to a test as the couple Aurelio, 67, and Erlinda Rillon, 60, spent more than 24 hours in the city jail for a libel charge filed by a Davao-based religious group.

The Rillons were arrested at around 9:30 A.M. on August 25 and were released at around 3:00P.M. the following day.

“The agony of having to suffer in jail for lack of bail money at a time when the couple could have been enjoying the twilight years is more trying for the Rillons,” a group of rallyists declared. However, Erlinda said she has prepared for any adversity if only to call the public’s attention to her daughter’s freedom.

Bail amounting to P20,000 for the couple was posted after solicitations poured in from support groups.

Vernie Yocogan-Diano, secretary general of the Innabuyog-Gabriela, an alliance of women’s groups in the Cordillera, said that in their fight to get back their daughter, the Rillons underwent tremendous physical, mental and psychological torture, draining even their financial sources. Mr. Rillon suffered from a stroke in August 2004, his resistance weakened and has become very sickly after they lost Arlene. Mrs. Rillon has reached out to different offices in government, church groups, the media and organizations like Innabuyog-Gabriela for assistance.

NORDIS carried an article on May 8 this year on the blow-by-blow account surrounding Arlene’s disappearance after she left for a youth camp in May 2004 and has not returned home since. Then 17 years old, she appeared on a Kingdom-controlled TV program shortly after that saying she would surprise her parents with a decision she made by herself.

The Rillons earlier sought through various means the freedom of their lone daughter, 19-year-old Arlene, from the Kingdom of Jesus Christ, The Name Above Every Name, Inc. (Kingdom) headed by Rev. Pastor Apollo C. Quiboloy. In their pursuit for their daughter’s freedom, the couple has sent letters asking for assistance to some of their acquaintances and friends. They sent one of these letters to the Baguio City council and still another, to Gen. Reynaldo Velasco of the Philippine National Police (PNP).

Unpublished documents as basis for libel suit

These letters, which became bases of the libel suit filed by a certain Nelida L. Lizada for the Kingdom, said in part that the Rillons were clamoring for justice... to reunite with (their) daughter Arlene Erojo Rillon, whose liberty has been unjustly restrained by members of the Kingdom. The duo said they attached a statement under oath, with the hope that when brought into the public, will not only secure the freedom of (their) daughter but will save our youth from falling into the trap of a cult that is out to destroy the unity of families.

The Rillons maintained that these letters were not published saying in their counter-affidavit that these were privileged communications made in redress of grievances and in the performance of a legal and moral duty involving the liberty of their daughter.

Lizada quoted in her complaint a longer letter to Velasco with the Rillons allegedly recounting how Arlene got into the Kingdom’s activities. The same letter alleged that Quiboloy, a native of Pampanga and a “kabalen of Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo campaigned decisively for her and that the latter is so influential that no one seemed to go against him.

In a case resolution penned by Prosecutor Emilio O. Dayanghirang of Davao City on May 16, 2005, the Prosecutor’s Office found that the “contents of the questioned letters clearly were not limited to the bare facts of the Rillons’ efforts to recover and bring back their daughter to Baguio City but contained libelous and defamatory imputations against the Kingdom, accusing it and its members as unjustly restraining the liberty of their daughter Arlene and imputing that the Kingdom is a cult out to destroy the unity of families”.

The Dayanghirang resolution also said “Evidently, respondents have the intention to injure the reputation of the Kingdom as shown by the words used and the circumstances attending the publication of the defamatory imputations.”

Jurisdiction

The libel lawsuit was tried in Davao City, where it was filed. The Kingdom’s main office is in that city in the far south Philippines. Thus, a Davao court issued the warrant of arrest served today at the Rillon residence at Alta Verde Subdivision here.

The Rillons filed two habeas corpus petitions before the Regional Trial Courts here but these were dismissed for lack of jurisdiction. The second petition for habeas corpus, which seeks to retrieve custody for Arlene in May was dismissed anew and is yet to be appealed to the Court of Appeals.

Nonetheless, the arresting officers from the Baguio City Police Office (BCPO) were in a quandary as to where to confine the Rillons because City Jail Warden Atty. Miguel Cawi of the Bureau of Jail and Penology here refused to accept them into the city jail. Cawi clarified that if the case would be tried in Davao City, his office has no funds to bring them to the place of trial. He added that the city jail is too congested that he could not accommodate the detainees.

The church has spoken

“Iba sana ngayon ang dapat nakakulong at di ang mag-asawa dahil sila ang agrabyado,” (Another person should be behind bars because the Rillons are the aggrieved party here) Rev. Ricardo Sta. Cruz, head minister of the Beacons of Christ to which the Rillons now belong, said during a rally in front of the city jail here.

Other ministers and lay leaders reaffirmed that Quiboloy violated the law of love by making families live separately. The group, in a petition asked the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) to do an objective review of Arlene’s case and ensure the safety of young people, specially young women. They also asked for a congressional inquiry to look into the affairs of Quiboloy’s Kingdom, as well as clarify and recommend actions on its economic activities, its recruitment of minors and study if there is human trafficking involved, as well as the nature of “pastoral care” being given by young women to Quiboloy.

The petition also asked the city council and other concerned local government units to hold their own investigation on the local activities of the Kingdom. They even want Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to disengage Quiboloy as national spiritual advisers.

“Release Arlene Rillon from Quiboloy’s Kingdom and make her undergo a psychological evaluation,” the petition urged, as they called on the parents and guardians of children now in the Kingdom to come out and share their stories to warn others. They asked for support to the Rillon’s effort to recover their daughter.

Call for justice

Innabuyog-Gabriela said in a statement that the Rillon’s struggle is a simple call for justice and an exercise of their obligation as responsible parents.

“Their only desire is to get back their daughter whom they believe is not already thinking on her own mind. For this, they were charged of libel, a plain act by the Kingdom to intimidate the Rillon couple. The Rillons are not only doing it for their child Arlene. By coming out in public that they are saving several other youth who were drawn into Quiboloy’s Kingdom. Let this be a warning for parents that they, too, will experience the same harassment should they get back their children duped into this Kingdom.”

Similarly, Innabuyog-Gabriela enjoins the Baguio public to give their support to the cause of the Rillons and other parents seeking the release of their children from the Kingdom.

“Together, let us show our unity in urging Quiboloy to release Arlene so she can be reunited with her family. Let us collectively convey to the Kingdom that the libel case is meant to harass the Rillons and that the libel charge is withdrawn. We also urge the concerned local government units and offices to look into the operations of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ. We call on church leaders and members standing for social justice to extend their support and air their statement to this cause,” the women’s group asks the public.

Innabuyog has extended moral and legal support including media mobilization for this issue to reach the wider public. Innabuyog also referred this case to the GABRIELA national office and the office of Gabriela Women’s Party Rep. Liza Maza for a possible congressional inquiry.

“Nakasaganaak a mabalod uray inggana sibibiagak para kenni Arlene,” (I am ready to stay in jail all my life for Arlene) Aurelio Rillon told Innabuyog members shortly before the warrant of arrest was served. His wife also packed some bags with personal belongings getting ready to sleep in a cold damp cell in the city jail. The Rillons did not mind the stigma of having to sleep on the cold damp cell in the city jail that evening. They said they could not sacrifice Arlene’s future. # Lyn V. Ramo for NORDIS

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