DAVAO CITY”•The lawyer of Apollo Quiboloy on Friday denied that the pastor was detained or arrested in Hawaii on his way back to the Philippines after attending to the spiritual needs of his members there.
Israelito Torreon said Quiboloy was not arrested and that the source of the news of his alleged arrest came only from one news agency in Hawaii.
In Manila, Malacañang said Friday it will not involve itself in the incident involving President Rodrigo Duterte’s close friend Quiboloy, founder of the group Kingdom of Jesus Christ.
Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque said Quiboloy is a “private individual” and that Duterte knows he can take care of himself.
Quiboloy arrived in Manila late Thursday on a commercial flight. While he was in Honolulu, US authorities found $350,000 in undeclared cash and gun parts from his private jet.
But Torreon said there was no truth to the reports that Quiboloy was arrested or detained, but he did not say if the pastor was questioned due to the alleged presence of large amounts of money and gun parts in his private plane.
“I can definitely say that there were no firearms found in the private plan. However, I cannot confirm if there were gun parts. Those things are being handled by my American counterpart,” Torreon said.
He said no charge or complaint was filed against Quiboloy, and that he arrived the country around 6:35 p.m. on Thursday.
“My source is Pastor Quiboloy. He personally told me that he was okay and that he would proceed with his scheduled prayer rally in Luzon in the next days to come, Torreon said.
Torreon said it had been Quiboloy’s habit to go to the US every November to address the spiritual needs of his members there and then fly back to the Philippines every February.
A follower and member of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ, Felina Salinas, the only American in the plane with Quiboloy, claimed that he owned the money found in Quiboloy’s plane.
The KJC claims more than 6 million followers all over the world.
