DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 06 February) — The lawyer of Pastor Apollo Quiboloy, the founder of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ, The Name Above Every Name (KOJC) questioned the timing of the pastor’s indictment in the United States and subsequent placement of his name on a “wanted list” by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), claiming it might undermine the tandem of Ferdinand Marcos Jr and Sara Duterte in May 2022 elections.
The self-proclaimed “appointed son of God” endorsed the tandem of Presidential candidate Ferdinand Marcos.Jr. and his running mate Davao City mayor Sara Duterte on February 1 and led a pray over for them and senatorial candidates Harry Roque and Jinggoy Estrada at his KOJC compound here.
In a press conference on Sunday broadcast live over the Quiboloy-owned SMNI News’ Facebook page, Ferdinand Topacio, KOJC legal counsel in Metro Manila, claimed that destroying the reputation of Quiboloy may affect the Marcos-Duterte tandem.
Pastor Apollo Quiboloy endorses the Marcos-Duterte tandem on February 1, 2022. Quiboloy prays for Mayor Sara Duterte, who is running for Vice President with Ferdinand Marcos Jr. as President, and senatorial candidates Jinggoy Estrada (L) and Harry Roque (R). Quiboloy endorsed the Marcos-Duterte tandem. Photo from the Lakas-CMD Facebook page
Quiboloy is a close friend and spiritual adviser of President Rodrigo Duterte. Duterte had earlier expressed displeasure over Marcos Jr.’s running for the presidency and called the latter a “weak leader.”
“Indirectly, it is undermining the candidacy of Sara Duterte. Indirectly, it may be undermining the candidacy of Bong Bong Marcos, or whichever candidate the US does not want to win in this country,” he said.
Topacio accused the US under the administration of President Joe Biden of meddling in domestic affairs here, particularly now that the May 2022 national and local elections are fast approaching.
He said the US has a history of “influencing” local political affairs.
“It is just an attempt on the part of the US – certain sectors of the US under this new administration there to throw a monkey wrench into our electoral process which they have done so many times before,” he said.
He said the KOJC became the subject of this controversy because it is an influential organization with a command vote.
He said the US government is adverse to any influential group “that are homegrown in the Philippines, and cannot be controlled by the US” and went on to say that the US has “tried to exert influence in this country through, among others, a certain religious groups, protestant groups etc. and now with certain media groups.”
Topacio also said that the release of the “wanted poster” by the FBI is suspicious in that it was done almost three months after a federal warrant of arrest was issued against the Pastor Quiboloy and church administrators Teresita Tolibas Dandan and Helen Panilag on November 10, 2021, and when campaign for national elections is starting.
“I am not fomenting any conspiracy theories here but we all have to be in a state of abject denial to say that the US has not been in interfering with our elections since as far as we can remember,” he said.
Sex trafficking by force, fraud and coercion…
Quiboloy was indicted by a federal grand jury in the United States District Court for the Central District of California, Santa Ana, California, for conspiracy to engage in sex trafficking by force, fraud and coercion and sex trafficking of children; sex trafficking by force, fraud and coercion; conspiracy; and bulk cash smuggling, and on November 10, 2021, a federal warrant was issued for his arrest.
According to the FBI, Quiboloy, Teresita Tolibas Dalandan, and Helen Panilag are wanted for their alleged participation in a labor trafficking scheme that brought church members to the US, 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.
It said that “members who proved successful at soliciting for the church allegedly were forced to enter into sham marriages or obtain fraudulent student visas to continue soliciting in the United States year-round.”
The superseding indictment released by the US Department of Justice in November 2021 alleged that females were recruited to work as personal assistants, or “pastorals,” for Quiboloy and that victims prepared his meals, cleaned his residences, gave him massages and were required to have sex with him in what the pastorals called “night duty.”
Dandan, the alleged “international administrator” who was one of the top overseers of the church and the bogus charity operations in the US, allegedly “played a central role in recruiting female victims, including minor victims” while Panilag, the alleged one-time top church administrator in the United States, oversaw the collection of financial data from church operations around the globe.
Cases vs media
Topacio dismissed the accusations against Quiboloy as lies and warned they would take legal actions against individuals and media entities for malicious publication of libelous contents against the religious leader.
“We are serving warning to everyone that any libelous statements in all platforms – print, broadcast social media – will be dealt with to the fullest extent of the law and no one should underestimate our resolve to protect the interest of Pastor Quiboloy,” he said.
Dinah Tolentino-Fuentes, KOJC legal counsel in Davao City, said the legal team has started “the process of filing cases against those who have made malicious publications and malicious charges against Pastor Quiboloy.”
“These are initiated not by Pastor Quiboloy. These are initiated by the people who are in his ministry, by the people who are fed up with all this merry-go-round that is happening against Pastor Quiboloy, the besmearing of his name, not just in national news but in international news as well, on Facebook and other social media forums, so just wait. We already started the process all over the Philippines,” he said.
The individual ”Wanted by the FBI” downloadable posters on Quiboloy, Dandan and Panilag are posted on the website of the FBI. The poster contains details behind the “wanted” status and a note at the bottom that “if you have any information concerning this person, please contact your local FBI office or the nearest American Embassy or Consulate.” (Antonio L. Colina IV / MindaNews)
