Manila Rep. Benny Abante FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines — Crafting a law that may disallow individuals facing heinous crimes before courts from running in an election should be studied, Manila 6th District Rep. Bienvenido Abante Jr. said on Wednesday.
Abante in a press briefing at the Batasang Pambansa complex said this after being asked about Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KJC) founder Apollo Quiboloy’s decision to run for the Senate in the 2025 midterm elections.
Quiboloy is facing qualified human trafficking charges before the Pasig City Regional Trial Court Branch 159. While his alleged offense is non-bailable and considered heinous, Quiboloy was able to file his certificate for candidacy (COC) as the law only prohibits individuals convicted of crimes from participating in an election.
READ: From jail, Quiboloy joins Senate race
“We’d look into it because what is stated in the law is that aspirants are only barred if the decision is final, not until the Supreme Court has made a final execution. We will look into it because if you have a case that is based on grave accusations, we should be able to say that those accused of heinous crimes should no longer run for office,” Abante said.
“But at this point in time, anyone (like Quiboloy) can run because he has not been convicted of his alleged crimes,” he added.
When asked what kind of crimes accused of a person should prevent them from filing COCs, Abante said plunder or graft can be included, just like human trafficking and other non-bailable offenses.
“Like heinous crimes, for example grave cases like plunder or graft and corruption. Or any, like human trafficking, it’s a heinous crime. What we call non-bailable offenses,” he said.
“We really need to look at this intently,” he added.
On Tuesday, Abante was also asked about attempts of individuals being investigated by the House of Representatives’ quad committee to run for public office. According to the lawmaker, this is a sign that they are really hard-headed.
Abante was responding to questions regarding business woman Rose Nono Lin’s decision to seek the congressional seat of Quezon City’s 5th District.
Lin is the wife of Lin Wei Xiong, the Chinese national who is said to be the financial manager of Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corp., the company that was dragged into the spotlight in 2021 after it was tapped to provide COVID-19 pandemic supplies despite a small paid-up capital of P625,000.
The couple’s names also popped out during the quad committee hearing, for allegedly being involved in Pogos and the illegal drug trade.
READ: Abante blasts candidates being probed by House for Pogo issues
Dismissed Bamban, Tarlac mayor Alice Guo, another controversial figure probed by the quad committee, was also rumored to be seeking reelection. Several senators warned Alice Guo that she would face more legal problems if she falsely insists on being a Filipino and flouts the country’s election law.
But on Tuesday, Guo clarified that she would not seek reelection as Bamban mayor.
Abante however admitted that there might be a constitutional question raised against this proposed law.
“There might be a question on the constitutionality of that thing, that’s why we have to look at this because the fact is, a suspect is deemed innocent until proven guilty. So when is a suspect proven guilty? Someone is guilty when he or she is convicted, right, but is that the appellate court or lower court?” he said.
“Where is the line drawn? We’ll take note of that and see what we can do about it. Perhaps we will study these things,” he added.
Quiboloy pleaded not guilty to a qualified human trafficking charge last September 13, during the arraignment and pre-trial for the case.
READ: Quiboloy invoked God in abusing minors, based on testimonies – PNP
There are minors and women who also claimed that they experienced abuse under Quiboloy, as victims as young as 13 years old were forced sexually and made to swear that they would keep incidents a secret.
According to the Philippine National Police, some of the supposed victims approached the police during the operation at the KJC Compound in Davao City, where Quiboloy was arrested.