President Marcos Jr. on Monday assured Pastor Apollo Quiboloy, the Kingdom of Jesus Christ group’s controversial leader, that the United States will not interfere in his cases in the near future.
“To Pastor Quiboloy, we’ve known him for a very long time. What I can promise you is that all the proceedings will be fair. Now, as to the involvement of the United States, that’s still far off. That’s going to take years, yet. So I don’t think that’s something he needs to worry about, quite frankly,” the President said in a chance interview in Bacolod.
Meanwhile, the Department of Justice said five co-accused of Quiboloy on charges of child abuse, exploitation and discrimination filed before the Davao City Regional Trial Court have posted bail.
But Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla stressed the televangelist cannot impose any conditions for his surrender, saying there is no legal impediment for his arrest to face trial for violation of Republic Act No. 7610 or the Anti-Child Abuse Law.
“Quiboloy cannot impose any conditions. He must surrender not according to his terms but according to the terms of the law. The law applies to all, without exception,” he said.
Senator Risa Hontiveros also challenged Quiboloy, who has a warrant of arrest for several criminal offenses, to come out of his hiding.
“If it is true that you are brave, repeat what you have been saying about the Senate right here in the Senate,” Hontiveros told Quiboloy.
“Make your words of record. Record your shameless audacity in history,” she added.
Mr. Marcos also called out Quiboloy’s request for him to guarantee that the US would not meddle in his legal battle.
“It seems to me a little bit of the tail wagging the dog, where he’s the one giving conditions to the government in his case, being accused of a warrant of arrest. So, I mean, we will, we will exercise all the compassion,” he said.
Quiboloy is on the US Federal Bureau of Investigation’s most wanted list after being indicted by a federal grand jury in a California district court in 2021 for various crimes, including sex trafficking, fraud, coercion, visa misuse, cash smuggling, and money laundering.
In a report to the DOJ, the National Bureau of Investigation identified the accused as Cresente Canada, Paulene Canada, Sylvia Cemanes, Jackielyn W. Roy, and Ingrid C. Canada who were charged with maltreatment.
They posted bail of P80,000 each for their provisional liberty.
On the other hand, Quiboloy — the principal accused — has remained at large despite the arrest order issued by the Davao City RTC last April 1.
Quiboloy and his co-accused were charged with violations of Sections 10(a) and 5(b) of Republic Act (RA) No. 7610, the Special Protection of Children Against Abuse, Exploitation and Discrimination Act, over the alleged sexual abuses committed in 2011 against a female who was then 17 years old.
The NBI said it will continue its operations to locate and arrest the preacher, assuring the public “that it will not stop tracking Quiboloy until justice is served.”
The DOJ chief said the case against Quiboloy is “never a weak one and there is direct evidence to prove all the elements of the offenses charged.”
Nonetheless, Remulla assured Quiboloy’s safety even as he reminded the embattled preacher “that no one is above the law, even if one occupies an important position in his religious organization.”
“The charges against Quiboloy are not ‘simple.’ They involve serious and morally abhorrent offenses such as sexual assault of a minor and human trafficking,” the secretary said.
Earlier, President Marcos said: “My advice to him is just to face the questioning before the Senate and the House (of Representatives). So we can hear his side and find out what really happened. We’re trying to be fair here and allow him an opportunity to make his case. So I think he should take advantage of that.”
The President made the statement in response to Quiboloy’s allegations that Mr. Marcos conspired with the United States government to capture him and turn him over to the US authorities.
The DOJ is still awaiting the issuance by the Pasig RTC of another warrant of arrest for qualified trafficking.
Editor’s Note: This is an updated article. Originally posted with the headline Marcos assures Quiboloy: US won’t be allowed to meddle in cases