DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 23 Oct) — The Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 159 of Pasig City has denied the request of Pastor Apollo C. Quiboloy to be placed under hospital arrest.
In a three-page order issued Thursday, the court found “no compelling reason” to grant Quiboloy’s motion for hospital arrest, which sought his transfer to either the Philippine Heart Center or The Medical City from Pasig City Jail, where he is currently detained.
The court noted that the medical needs of the 75-year-old Quiboloy — the self-proclaimed “appointed son of God” and founder of Kingdom of Jesus Christ, The Name Above Every Name (KOJC) — are adequately and consistently attended to while in jail custody.
The religious leader, it added, continues to receive “appropriate, timely, and sufficient medical care” at the Pasig City General Hospital under the supervision of competent medical professionals.
The court also stated that, based on the progress report enclosing a clinical abstract from the Pasig City Jail, Quiboloy’s vital signs have improved and that he has no subjective complaints about his health condition since Sept. 24, 2025.
Based on his motion, Quiboloy’s legal team stated that the religious leader has been “experiencing persistent shortness of breath, accompanied by intermittent fever, muscle pain, and cough while in detention.”
Citing his advanced age, his legal team noted that the accused needs multiple hospitalizations due to his “several serious medical conditions, including hypertension, diabetes mellitus type 2, chronic kidney disease, coronary artery disease, atrial fibrillation, dyslipidemia, pulmonary tuberculosis, and recurrent bouts of pneumonia.”
The RTC, in an order issued on Sept. 22, allowed Quiboloy to undergo medical examinations and procedures at the Philippine Heart Center on Sept. 23.
On Sept. 30, Supt. Jayrex Bustinera, spokesperson for the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP), confirmed that Quiboloy was rushed to a public hospital last Sept. 11 due to difficulty in breathing, and was later diagnosed with community acquired pneumonia (moderate risk).
The detained religious leader was arrested by authorities at the KOJC Compound in Davao City Sept. 8 last year.
Quiboloy is facing charges of child abuse and qualified human trafficking, along with co-accused Jackielyn Roy, Cresente Canada, Paulene Canada, Ingrid Canada, and Sylvia Cemañes.
Two separate warrants of arrest were issued by the RTC Branch 12 in Davao City and the RTC in Pasig City in April 2024. But the Supreme Court’s Second Division ordered the transfer of the two criminal cases from the RTC in Davao to the RTC in Quezon City on May 28 of the same year.
The accused had pleaded not guilty to the charges.
In the United States, Quiboloy has been on the wanted list of the Federal Bureau of Investigation since February 2022 amid numerous indictments 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 after a federal warrant was issued against him in November 2021.
In December 2022, the US Department of the Treasury included Quiboloy on a list of over 40 individuals from various countries whose assets have been blocked due to allegations of corruption and human rights abuses.
It said Quiboloy is designated pursuant to E.O. 13818 “for being a foreign person who is responsible for or complicit in, or has directly or indirectly engaged in, serious human rights abuse.”
It said that all property and interests in property of the designated persons that “are in the US or in the possession or control of US persons are blocked and must be reported to OFAC (Office of Foreign Assets Control),” including those assets that are owned, directly or indirectly, 50 percent or more.” (Antonio L. Colina IV / MindaNews)
