MANILA, Philippines – President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. took a swipe at fugitive doomsday preacher Apollo Quiboloy for laying down conditions for his supposed surrender.

Over the weekend, Quiboloy had demanded a written assurance from the Marcos administration that the United States won’t meddle in the criminal cases he is facing here in the Philippines.

“I think it seems to be a little bit tail wagging the dog ano, na siya ang magbibigay ng kundisyon sa gobyerno doon sa kaso niya, akusado siya, sa warrant of arrest (that he is the one setting conditions to the government about his case, when he is the one accused and the subject of an arrest warrant),” Marcos said on Monday, April 8.

“Now as to the involvement of the United States, malayo pa ‘yan e (that’s far from the horizon). That’s going to take years. So I don’t think that’s something he needs to worry about quite frankly,” he added.

The President, however, guaranteed that his administration “will exercise all the compassion to Pastor Quiboloy, whom we have known for a very long time.”

A trial court in Davao ordered the arrest of Quiboloy and five of his associates in March for child abuse and sexual abuse. The Senate also issued a similar order against him for “unduly refusing to appear” at the upper chamber’s inquiry into his alleged human rights abuses.

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In the US, a federal grand jury indicted him and eight of his associates in 2021 over allegations of labor trafficking. He has since been included in the most wanted list of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

Quiboloy’s conditions

Quiboloy, in the 33-minute audio recording posted by the media arm of the Quiboloy-led Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KOJC) on YouTube over the weekend, said he needs President Marcos, Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla, Philippine National Police chief Rommel Marbil, and National Bureau of Investigation Director Medarmo de Lemos to promise in writing that Washington won’t interfere in court proceedings here in the Philippines.

If the government fails to satisfy that demand, Quiboloy said “you will never see my face.”

“Ako po ay hindi nagtatago sa kasong ito dahil ako po ay may kasalanan. Hindi po. Ako ay umiiwas dahil pinoprotektahan ko ang aking sarili (I am not hiding from this case because I am guilty. No. I am avoiding it because I am protecting myself),” he said.

Quiboloy also wants the Senate committee chaired by opposition lawmaker Risa Hontiveros to stop its probe into the alleged abuses committed against former KOJC workers, who he claimed were paid to lie.

Responding to Quiboloy, Hontiveros insisted that the fugitive does not have any evidence to dispute the allegations raised by the witnesses in those Senate hearings.

“Wala kang karapatang siraan ang institusyon ng Senado at ang mandato nito (You have no right to tarnish the reputation of the Senate and its mandate),” Hontiveros said on Monday.

“Kung totoong matapang ka, ulitin mo lahat ng sinabi mo tungkol sa Senado, dito sa Senado (If you are brave you will repeat what you said about the Senate, here in the Senate). Make your words of record. Record your shameless audacity in history,” she added. – Rappler.com

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