Comelec asked to reconsider ruling on Quiboloy's Senate bid

The Workers’ and Peasants’ Party (WPP) on Monday filed a motion for reconsideration (MR) seeking to overturn a Commission on Elections (Comelec) decision that junked a petition to disqualify detained televangelist Apollo Quiboloy from running in the May 2025 elections. 

In filing their MR, WPP president and labor leader Sonny Matula reiterated Quiboloy’s candidacy “mocks the electoral process” as he alleged the poll body ruling “exposes glaring inconsistencies” in the treatment of candidates. 

Matula said Quiboloy, who is facing a slew of legal charges including child sex trafficking charges, was allowed to run for senator in the next year’s polls while Sultan Subair Guinthium Mustapha, a respected Muslim leader and an official candidate of the WPP, was declared a nuisance candidate. 

“Apollo Quiboloy, who is currently detained at Pasig City Jail due to charges of qualified human trafficking and sexual abuse of minors, is practically and legally incapacitated to run a nationwide senatorial campaign,” the WPP said.

“His status as a person deprived of liberty (PDL) renders him unable to meet the basic requirements of candidacy, including engaging with voters and conducting legitimate campaign activities,” it added. 

The petitioners further asked the Comelec en banc to review the resolution of the First Division, disqualify Quiboloy as a nuisance candidate, and harmonize its procedural rules, saying it “ensures that COMELEC upholds the principles of justice, reasonableness, and fairness for all candidates."

“Let’s be clear—this isn’t about ganging up on Quiboloy…but the inconsistencies and legal infirmities in this resolution can’t be ignored. This Motion for Reconsideration is a call to fix these issues before they undermine the credibility of our electoral system,” the WPP added. 

Earlier, the Comelec First Division dismissed a petition seeking to disqualify Quiboloy, saying "there is a dearth of evidence presented by Petitioner that could convince us that the Respondent should be declared as a nuisance candidate."

The petition filed by Matula alleged Quiboloy of "material misrepresentation" and asked Comelec to disqualify him as a senatorial candidate saying that the latter's nomination by WPP “had no factual and legal basis.” 

“The Petitioner maintained that Respondent’s submission of an unauthorized CONA was a violation of WPP’s and this Commission’s rules, and that it was a clear ground for the cancellation of his COC. We do not agree,” the decision reads. 

“It could be determined that the argument relied upon by the Petitioner is patently erroneous. When the Commission denies due course to or cancels a candidate’s COC, this is due to a finding that the candidate made a material misrepresentation in his or her COC which is false… Clearly, membership or nomination by political party is not among the qualifications for the position of Senator. Thus, the submission of a CONA that was signed by unauthorized individual is not equivalent to material misrepresentation that will affect the Respondent’s eligibility,” it continued.

On October 21, Quiboloy announced that he would continue his bid for senator as an independent bet for Eleksyon 2025.

Comelec earlier said that  Quiboloy may be declared an independent senatorial bet in the May 2025 elections after it received two sets of authorized signatories from the WPP, each from the camps of lawyers Mark Kristopher Tolentino and Ariel Joseph Arias.

The Tolentino group submitted its list on September 30, 2024, naming Tolentino and Roberto Pascual as signatories, while the Arias group listed Arias, and lawyers Sonny Matula, Allan Montano, and Oscar Morado as the same.—LDF, GMA Integrated News