Photo from Benhur Abalos’ Facebook page.
MANILA, Philippines — A Quezon City court has ordered the transfer of pastor Apollo Quiboloy and one of his five coaccused to the male dormitory of the New Quezon City Jail and the rest to the female section of another jail in the city.
The Philippine National Police insisted, however, that they all should remain at the PNP Custodial Center in Camp Crame, saying this is in accordance with another court order from Pasig City.
READ: Quiboloy camp wants house arrest or custody transfer
Quiboloy surrendered to authorities on Sunday after being holed up for two weeks in the sprawling compound of his Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KJC) sect. He and Sylvia Cemañes, Jackielyn Roy and Ingrid, Paulene and Cresente Canada face charges of sexual abuse of minors and maltreatment before Branch 106 of the Quezon City Regional Trial Court.
Paulene Canada was arrested in July in Davao City, where she remains detained.
Sex trafficking charges
All six are also charged with the nonbailable offense of qualified human trafficking before Branch 159 of the Pasig City Regional Trial Court.
Quiboloy was also indicted in 2021 by a federal grand jury in California for various sex trafficking charges, including sex trafficking of children, as well as conspiracy and bulk cash smuggling.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation has a standing warrant for his arrest posted on its website. The US government has yet to formally seek his extradition.
Judge Noel Parel of the Quezon City court, in an order dated Sept. 9, directed the PNP to “transfer and commit” Quiboloy and Cresente Canada to the New Quezon City Jail in Barangay Bagong Silangan, and Cemañes, Roy and Ingrid Canada to the female dormitory of the old city jail at Camp Karingal in Diliman.
Move for AFP custody
At the Pasig RTC, Quiboloy’s lawyer Israelito Torreon on Monday asked that his client either be placed under house arrest or transferred to the custody of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, citing security and health concerns.
President Marcos, in an interview with reporters on Monday, said Quiboloy had lost trust in the police because of their search operation at the KJC compound in Davao City and the ensuing two-week standoff with his followers.
But the Department of National Defense (DND) on Tuesday filed a motion before the Pasig court opposing Torreon’s petition.
“The allegations against the accused are heinous crimes covered by our civilian courts. It is only proper that the accused remain under the custody of law enforcement agencies and not with the military,” Assistant Secretary Erik Dy of DND’s Legal and Legislative Affairs told reporters after filing the motion.
Dy said Quiboloy and his coaccused are not members of the military and thus not covered by the general court-martial.
But AFP spokesperson Col. Francel Margareth Padilla said the military would “fully adhere to the results of court proceedings regarding the Quiboloy case.”
Explaining the PNP’s stand to keep Quiboloy and the others detained at Camp Crame, PNP spokesperson Col. Jean Fajardo said “We don’t want to run the risk of transferring them to Quezon City [since] they might post bail. The PNP has no control over there.”
According to Fajardo, the Pasig court had ordered the continued detention of Quiboloy and his coaccused at the PNP Custodial Center. This is in contrast to the Quezon City court’s order for their transfer.
“We just have to harmonize the court orders,” she said.
Fajardo said the PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Group will also submit its legal position to keep custody of Quiboloy and his coaccused.
Their arraignment is scheduled on Sept. 13, 8:30 a.m.
A pretrial “via teleconference” is also scheduled that morning, but it is not clear why that proceeding will be held online, despite all six accused being directed to appear in court.
The Pasig court has scheduled the arraignment of Quiboloy and other accused for Friday.