DND opposes Quiboloy’s motion for military custody before Pasig court
MANILA, Philippines (Updated) — The Department of National Defense (DND) filed a motion to oppose the camp of detained Pastor Apollo Quiboloy’s petition to transfer his custody from the police to the military.
The four-page “comment and opposition” to Quiboloy camp’s urgent motion for transfer was lodged by Erik Dy, DND assistant secretary for legal and legislative affairs, before Pasig Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 159 on Tuesday afternoon.
“[As per] the process of the court, they will request us to comment but we did this on our own, to file our comment, because we oppose the transfer of the accused to the custody of the [military],” Dy said in an ambush interview, partly in Filipino.
Dy said that a copy of Quiboloy’s motion to transfer his custody from the Philippine National Police (PNP) to the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) was only received by the DND on Tuesday morning.
“The allegations against the accused are heinous crimes that are within our civilian courts,” Dy said in an ambush interview in Pasay City. “The custody of the accused should remain to law enforcement agencies and not to the military.”
Article continues after this advertisementOn Monday, DND spokesperson Arsenio Andolong expressed the agency’s opposition to the Quiboloy camp’s motion.
Article continues after this advertisementREAD: Quiboloy camp wants house arrest or custody transfer
“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 said in a statement.
Dy also noted that the detention facilities of the AFP are only for military officers and personnel charged or convicted of service-related offenses under the jurisdiction of the general courts martial.
Quiboloy is facing a non-bailable human trafficking case before the Pasig RTC.
Earlier, PNP spokesperson Col. Jean Fajardo said the Pasig RTC issued an order “directing the PNP to retain the custody” of Quiboloy and four other subordinates after the Quezon City RTC Branch 106 directed their transfer to jails in Quezon City.
READ: Quiboloy, 4 others to remain at PNP custodial center – Fajardo
Aside from Quiboloy, Jackielyn Roy, Ingrid Canada, Cresente Canada, and Sylvia Cemanes face child abuse cases in Quezon City RTC, but these cases are bailable.
The five suspects have been detained at the PNP custodial center since Sunday. They were transported there shortly after their arrest in the Kingdom of Jesus Christ compound in Davao City.
