Televangelist Apollo Quiboloy
MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Justice (DOJ) is still collecting verified data and seeking the opinion of American legal experts on the US Department of the Treasury’s decision to impose sanctions on televangelist Apollo Quiboloy over allegations of serious human rights abuses.
A lawmaker, however, urges the government to take decisive action on Quiboloy’s case, saying “We cannot just [take a] wait-and-see [stance] in response.”
But DOJ spokesperson and Assistant Secretary Mico Clavano, speaking to reporters on Sunday, said “it’s simply premature for us to speak on the issue.”
“Allow us to gather verified information and seek US legal experts’ advice. Then we can act accordingly,” he added.
Clavano said the DOJ was supportive of the US treasury department’s “cause in the protection of human rights and in the eradication of corrupt practices.”
For House Assistant Minority Leader and Gabriela women’s party list Rep. Arlene Brosas, the government should task the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) and the National Security Council (NSC) to “conduct an exhaustive investigation on Pastor Quiboloy’s offenses and financial transactions, and enable victims to come forward through a witness protection program.”
Mico Clavano —SCREENGRAB
“The DOJ cannot just wait for an extradition request from the US,” Brosas said in a statement, adding that the NSC and the AMLC could initiate separate probes on the self-proclaimed “appointed son of God” by virtue of Republic Act No. 11862 or the Expanded Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act.
Assets frozen
On Friday (Saturday in Manila), the US treasury department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) blocked all transactions of Quiboloy, his Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KOJC) religious sect and other properties within US territory, effectively freezing their assets.
The sanctions meant that “all property and interests in property” in the United States “or in the possession or control of US persons are blocked and must be reported to OFAC.”
“For more than a decade, Apollo Carreon Quiboloy engaged in serious human rights abuse, including a pattern of systemic and pervasive rape of girls as young as 11 years old, as well as other physical abuse,” OFAC said in a press statement.
The televangelist was one of 40 individuals and entities in nine countries sanctioned for corruption and human rights abuse by the US treasury department as it commemorated International Anti-Corruption Day (Dec. 9) and Human Rights Day (Dec. 10).
Quiboloy’s American lawyer, Michael Jay Green, denounced the allegations against his client, saying the pastor was already being punished even before the start of his trial on sex trafficking charges.
Petition for review pending
In June 2020, the Davao City Prosecutor’s Office dismissed the charges of rape, child abuse under RA 7610, physical abuse, trafficking in persons through forced labor, and trafficking in persons through sexual abuse filed in December 2019 against Quiboloy and five others.
The complainant, a former member of the KOJC, had accused Quiboloy of raping her in 2014, a claim he denied. A petition for review of the complaint is pending before the DOJ.
“That will all be discussed in the next few days. We’ll have to look at this holistically since we are dealing with international law as well,” Clavano told reporters when asked for an update on the petition for review.
Arlene Brosas
Brosas, meanwhile, called on the Philippine Army to sever its media partnership with Quiboloy’s Sonshine Media Network International signed on Oct. 24.
“We cannot let an indicted sex offender and fake news peddler broaden his mass media reach using taxpayer money,” she said.