MANILA, Philippines – Embattled doomsday preacher Apollo Quiboloy remains in the Philippines, the Department of Justice (DOJ) said on Thursday, April 25.

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“The respondent, or the accused [Quiboloy] has to submit his person to the court for the court to be able to assert its jurisdiction and to subject him to other processes under the law,” DOJ spokesperson Assistant Secretary Mico Clavano said in a palace briefing.

“Obviously he’s still at large so the law enforcement is still on the lookout and they’ve continued the operations to be able to arrest on the basis of the warrants that have been issued by the court,” he added.

Clavano also said on Thursday that prosecutors had already filed a motion asking for the issuance of a hold departure order (HDO) against Quiboloy. At present, the doomsday preacher is already on the Bureau of Immigration’s lookout list.

In past cases, the Supreme Court said HDOs, which prevent a person from leaving the country, are issued only in criminal cases within the exclusive jurisdiction of the Regional Trial Courts. The issuance of an HDO is also standard practice for the prosecution to ensure that the accused will remain in the country to face his/ her case.

For his alleged abuses, Quiboloy faces several cases locally and abroad. The preacher faces two warrants of arrest from Philippine courts: in Davao City for alleged sexual and child abuse and the non-bailable human trafficking case pending in Pasig City.

Aside from local cases, Quiboloy is also wanted in the United States for sexual trafficking. He was indicted by a federal grand jury in a US District Court in Santa Ana, California, in 2021, and landed on the US Federal Bureau of Investigation’s most wanted list. 

On top of these, the Senate has also ordered Quiboloy’s arrest after the preacher was held in contempt for snubbing the summons of the Senate committee on women, children, family relations, and gender equality, chaired by Hontiveros. The Senate inquiry focused on Quiboloy’s alleged abuses.

Recently, the Philippine National Police Firearms and Explosives Office has recommended to revoke Quiboloy’s gun license. A Rappler investigation discovered that Quiboloy has at least 19 firearms with an estimated value of about P2.3 million ($41,000).

Transfer of case

On Thursday, Clavano said they asked the Supreme Court (SC) to allow them to transfer the case in Davao City to Metro Manila.

“Just as an update as well, we transferred the cases from Davao to Pasig City so that the same team of prosecutors may be able to prosecute both cases together,” the DOJ spokesperson said.

SC spokesperson Camille Sue Mae Ting told reporters on Thursday that Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo has yet to receive the Office of the Court Administrator (OCA) recommendation regarding the DOJ’s request. Ting said Gesmundo earlier referred Remulla’s request to the OCA “for evaluation, report, and recommendation.”

In other words, the SC has yet to decide on DOJ’s request. – Rappler.com