Accusers are using Quiboloy's closeness with Duterte to destroy the President —legal counsel

The camp of Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KJC) founder and pastor Apollo Carreon Quiboloy on Sunday said his accusers are only using his closeness with President Rodrigo Duterte to indirectly destroy the latter, after the church leader was named "most wanted" by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). 

Ferdinand Topacio, Quiboloy's legal counsel, said the timing when the FBI released the "most wanted" poster was “very suspect” as the federal grand jury indictment was made on November 10, 2021.

“Supposedly, according sa pinost sa website ng FBI [to the FBI post on its website], there was a warrant also issued on that day. Common sense dictates that if you have a warrant, you immediately put up a wanted poster. Bakit hinintay pa po hanggang ngayon kung kailan mag-uumpisa ang kampanyahan para sa national elections kung kailan inilabas itong poster na ito?” he said.

(Why wait until now to release the poster when the campaign for the national elections is about to start?)

Based on the Commission on Elections’ (Comelec) calendar of activities for Eleksyon 2022, the campaign period for candidates for president, vice president, senator, and party-lists will start on February 8.

The FBI issued "Most Wanted" posters for Quiboloy and two other church members–Teresita Tolibas Dandan and Helen Panilag–on Friday.

Quiboloy who is a close friend and adviser to Duterte, is "wanted for his alleged participation in a labor trafficking scheme that brought church members to the United States, via fraudulently obtained visas, and forced the members to solicit donations for a bogus charity, donations that actually were used to finance church operations and the lavish lifestyles of its leaders," the FBI said.

“I’m not fomenting any conspiracy theories here but we all have to be in a state of abject denial to say that the United States has not been interfering with our elections since as far as we can remember,” Topacio said.

He then asked why, in the period before Duterte became president, there were no such accusations against Quiboloy.

Topacio said it was only in 2016, when Duterte was elected as president, when all the “trumped-up charges” were filed against Quiboloy.

“Alam niyo, kung totoong maimpluwensya si Pastor Quiboloy kay Pangulong Duterte, ay bakit po kailan nakaupo sa Malacañang si Pangulong Duterte, doon pa binabangga si Pastor Quiboloy? It does not make sense. Hindi mo babanggain ito kung tingin mo, may kapit siya sa kapangyarihan,” he said.

(You know, if Quiboloy is really influential to Duterte, why is it that when Duterte was already sitting in Malacañang, that was when Quiboloy’s accusers hit him? It does not make sense. You won’t hit a person if you think he has a grip on power.)

“The only logical reason here is that they are using the closeness of Pastor Quiboloy with President Duterte para gibain indirectly si Pangulong Duterte [to indirectly destroy Duterte],” he added.

Asked what the US would gain from “destroying” Duterte in his last few months as the president, Topacio said it may be to “undermine” the candidacy of presidential daughter Sara Duterte who is running for Vice President in the May 9 polls.

“Well indirectly, it is undermining the candidacy of Sara Duterte. Indirectly, it may be undermining the candidacy of Bongbong Marcos, or whichever candidate the United States does not want to win in this country,” he said.

He also said that what the US has been doing against Quiboloy may be a “distraction and an issue” against the current administration as the US has “repeatedly and consistently interfered and intervened” in Philippine politics.

“Historically also, if you read certain sources, the US is averse to what they perceive to be influential local groups whether they may be NGOs, people’s organizations, or even religious groups that are homegrown in the Philippines and cannot be controlled by the US,” he added.

Despite all this, Topacio emphasized that Duterte does not have to help Quiboloy as the Constitution has “guarantees” of protecting individual rights.

“All that the President has to do under his oath to faithfully comply with all the laws and to faithfully execute the laws, is to see to it that justice is done under our democratic and republican system of government. We are not asking the President for any special favors,” he said.

In the Philippines, complaints for rape, child abuse and human trafficking had been filed against Quiboloy and five other church members, but were dropped by the Davao City Prosecutor's Office in 2020, citing lack of evidence.

In November 2021, Quiboloy and other church officials, including two US-based church administrators, were indicted in the US for allegedly running a sex-trafficking operation that threatened victims as young as 12 with "eternal damnation" and physical abuse.

That same month, Quiboloy warned the public to stop "persecuting, prosecuting, and maligning" him, or suffer more from the pandemic. He then said the Omicron COVID-19 variant is the result of how he is being treated. —KG, GMA News