Apollo Quiboloy. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Risa Hontiveros on Monday called on the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to cancel the passport of fugitive preacher and Kingdom of Jesus Christ sect leader Apollo Quiboloy.
“Instead of appearing in the Senate, he just kept on recording audio messages, which [seemed] to insult the government’s capability to locate him. This is appalling. This should not be allowed to pass, but only challenge government more to exhaust all means to restrict his movements,” Hontiveros said in a statement.
“The world is closing in on him. He is accused of crimes that transcend continents and nationalities. I’m confident that many countries are ready to cooperate to hold him accountable,” she added.
READ: Hontiveros wants Quiboloy’s followers disarmed
Hontiveros stressed that three of the victim-survivors who testified about alleged abuses committed by Quiboloy and his group before her committee, the Senate committee on women, were foreign nationals.
“If the fugitive congressman had been arrested, I hope the fugitive religious leader would also get arrested. The world is small. He cannot evade the law forever,” she said, referring to expelled lawmaker Arnold Teves Jr., the alleged mastermind in the killing of Negros Oriental Gov. Roel Degamo in 2023, who was earlier arrested in Timor Leste.
READ: PNP chief OKs recommendation to revoke Quiboloy’s firearm licenses
Red flag
According to the DFA, when a passport is canceled, it is a “red flag for any application in all DFA consular offices within and outside the Philippines.”
It added that a canceled passport is reported to both the Bureau of Immigration and the Interpol office in the Philippines. Interpol Philippines then informs Interpol Headquarters, which will put the passport in its alert system at all international border controls.
Philippine National Police chief Gen. Rommel Marbil on Friday approved the recommendation of the Firearms and Explosives Office to revoke Quiboloy’s license to own and possess firearms.
The revocation was based on Section 4 (g) of the Comprehensive Firearms and Ammunition Regulation Act (Republic Act No. 10591), which prohibits the issuance of a firearms license to someone convicted of or currently accused of a pending criminal case punishable by a penalty of more than two years.
Quiboloy is charged before two courts with child abuse, sexual assault, trafficking, exploitation and discrimination.