News Roundup 09 September 2024
Sep 09, 2024 • 5 min Read
DND rejects Quiboloy camp’s call for military custody | INQUIRER.NET – MANILA, Philippines — The Department of National Defense (DND) on Monday immediately rejected the request of Pastor Apollo Quiboloy’s camp for military custody.
Quiboloy, along with Jackielyn Roy, Ingrid Canada, Cresente Canada and Sylvia Cemanes, have been under the Philippine National Police (PNP) custody since Sunday shortly after their arrest in Kingdom of Jesus Christ compound in Davao City.
Israelito Torreon, Quiboloy’s legal counsel, on Monday said they already filed a motion to transfer Quiboloy’s custody to the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).
“The DND will oppose any motion to have Pastor Quiboloy transferred to AFP custody,” said DND spokesperson Arsenio Andolong in a statement issued a few hours after Torreon’s call.
“AFP facilities are subject to strict operational security protocols, thus, the AFP is not the proper agency to have custody of suspects in criminal cases,” Andolong added.
Quiboloy and the five co-accused face child abuse cases before the Davao City court. One of them — identified as Pauline Canada — has been under the custody of authorities since July.
Likewise, Quiboloy has standing arrest warrants for human trafficking issued by a Pasig City court.
Story at: DND rejects Quiboloy camp’s call for military custody (inquirer.net)
‘Stop the drama’: VP Duterte told to answer House’s queries on budget | INQUIRER.NET – MANILA, Philippines — Lawmakers from both the Majority and Minority blocs of the House of Representatives have urged Vice President Sara Duterte to “stop the drama” and just respond to queries about her budget expenditures.
ACT Teachers party-list Rep. France Castro on Monday said that it seems the vice president is resorting to “squid tactics” again, as she supposedly diverts attention from her office’s use of P125 million confidential funds (CF) in 2022 in just 11 days.
“Again, VP Duterte is using squid tactics to cover up her misdeeds. She should just stop the drama and explain where and how she spent P125 million confidential funds in 11 days,” Castro said.
“Dapat sa House of Representatives na siya nagpaliwanag kesa sa isang video na sila din ang gumawa. Mas maganda na humarap siya bukas sa komite at doon magpaliwanag,” she added.
(She should explain her side before the House of Representatives, not in a video that they themselves created. It would be better if she faces the committee tomorrow and explains the issues there.)
The proposed budget of the Office of the Vice President (OVP) for 2025 will be discussed by the House committee on appropriations on Tuesday, September 10, after it was deferred last August 27.
Lawmakers from the said panel decided to defer the OVP’s budget because Duterte did not provide direct answers to the lawmakers’ questions, particularly on the CF, and instead replied by either saying that she forgoes the opportunity to defend the budget in a question-and-answer format or insisting that they have already coordinated with the Commission on Audit (COA) regarding the notice of disallowance.
Full Story at: ‘Stop the drama’: Duterte told to answer House’s queries on budget (inquirer.net)
Duterte, Quiboloy’s supporters file criminal raps vs Abalos, PNP execs | PHILSTAR.COM – MANILA, Philippines — Former President Rodrigo Duterte and some supporters of doomsday preacher Apollo Quiboloy filed criminal charges against Interior Secretary Benjamin Abalos and other officials of the Philippine National Police (PNP).
This was revealed by Abalos in a press conference at the Department of the Interior and Local Government on Monday, September 9, where the newly-arrested doomsday preacher Apollo Quiboloy and his co-accused were presented to the public a day after his arrest.
“Binantaan kami…maski magretire daw…katakot-takot na demanda ang ihaharap samin,” Abalos said. (We were threatened… even if we retire… we will be faced with numerous lawsuits.)
Duterte filed two counts of Malicious Mischief under the Revised Penal Code. Among the respondents to the cases aside from Abalos, are PNP chief General Rommel Marbil and PNP Region XI chief Brigadier General Nicolas Torre III.
Quiboloy was the spiritual adviser to the former president while Duterte has been named the property administrator of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KOJC) last May.
A group of Quiboloy supporters also filed separate complaints under the Revised Penal Code: Articles 128 (Violation of Domicile), 132 (Interruption of Religious Worship), 133 (Offending the Religious Feelings) and 282 (Grave Threats).
Administrative complaints were also lodged against Abalos and the PNP officials for grave misconduct, grave abuse of authority and/or conduct unbecoming of a public officer.
All of these cases are separate from the writ of amparo filed by the preacher’s “church”, the KOJC, before a Davao City court.
Full Story at: Duterte, Quiboloy’s supporters file criminal raps vs Abalos, PNP execs | Philstar.com
Remulla: U.S. expected to file extradition request for Quiboloy | PHILSTAR.COM – MANILA, Philippines — The United States is expected to file an extradition request to the Philippines for the transfer of newly-arrested doomsday preacher Apollo Quiboloy, Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla said on Monday, September 9.
He said that prior to the possible extradition, the preacher must be first tried by local courts.
“He’ll (Quiboloy) be charged and we expect the U.S. to apply for an extradition request. Remember, we have a treaty with the U.S. despite the law of the land. We will have to study it properly so we’ll know what to do,” Remulla said in an ambush interview with reporters.
“Ang aking magiging instruction sa prosecution ay prepare all the evidence so we can ask for a continuous trial, para matapos agad ang mga kasong kailangan litisin,” he added.
(My instruction to the prosecution will be to prepare all the evidence so we can request a continuous trial, in order to quickly resolve the cases that need to be tried.)
In 2021, U.S. prosecutors indicted the preacher and his associates with operating a trafficking ring that forced girls and young women to engage in sexual acts with him by threatening them with “eternal damnation.”
Quiboloy is also accused of running a labor trafficking operation that allegedly used fraudulently obtained visas to bring church members to the U.S., where they were forced to collect donations for a fake charity in California.
This led to the preacher’s inclusion to one of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s most wanted individuals.
Full Story at: Remulla: U.S. expected to file extradition request for Quiboloy | Philstar.com
