THE camp of Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KOJC) founder Pastor Apollo Quiboloy yesterday questioned why private individuals, instead of the government, are paying for the P10 million reward that Interior Secretary Benjamin Abalos Jr. offered for the arrest of the fugitive religious leader.
Lawyer Ferdinand Topacio said they are surprised why Abalos had also declined to identify the people who offered the amount.
“May mga katanungan lang kami bakit ayaw sabihin ni Secretary Abalos kung sino itong mga pribadong taong ito para malaman natin at makilatis natin ang kanilang motibo kung bakit itong si Pastor Quiboloy ay binibigyan nila ng napakalaking pabuya (We have questions why Secretary Abalos doesn’t want to disclose who these private individuals are so we will know the motives why they are providing such a huge reward for Pastor Quiboloy),” Topacio said in a television interview.
He also questioned why the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) is relying on private individuals instead of using the government’s own funds, including intelligence funds, for such purpose even as he acknowledged that the DILG and the Philippine National Police have the power to impose and offer rewards for individuals who are subject of warrants of arrests.
“Anyare doon sa intelligence funds na talaga namang pinaglalaanan at pinag-pupuhunan ng mga pabuya sa ganitong rewards (What happened to the intelligence funds that should have been use for these kinds of rewards),” Topacio said.
Another Quiboloy lawyer, Israelito Torreon, likewise questioned the bounty offer.
“The KOJC respects the recent move of the Marcos administration in offering a bounty for any information that would lead to the arrest of Pastor Apollo C. Quiboloy and his co-accused who are all leaders of KOJC. However, it cannot help but be amazed by this obstinate and continuous obsession of the Marcos administration against Pastor Quiboloy,” Torreon said in a statement, adding that instead of a bounty offer, the Department of Justice (DOJ) should instead have acted on their motion for reconsideration questioning the indictment of Quiboloy.
Torreon said the reward offer could be meant to detract the public’s attention away from the pressing problems of society that the Marcos government has failed to address.
“Instead of acting on his Motion for Reconsideration in the DOJ so Pastor Quiboloy can avail of other legal remedies if the same is denied, this Marcos administration has created a circus out of Pastor Quiboloy’s precipitate and unjust indictment as if, in a wag the dog fashion, to draw the attention of the nation away from the country’s pressing problems like the worsening economic situation, continuous skyrocketing of basic commodities, downward spiral of the WPS situation which may turn into a full-blown war, burgeoning country’s debt and cancer-like corruption infecting the entire spectrum of governance in the country, among others, “ he said.
Both Topacio and Torreon did not provide a categorical answer if they will formally question the bounty offer.
Warrants of arrests have been issued against Quiboloy and his co-accused by the Davao City and Pasig City courts for alleged violation of Republic Act 7610 or the Special Protection of Children Against Abuse, Exploitation, and Discrimination Act, and Republic Act No. 9208 or Qualified Human Trafficking.
Quiboloy has also been indicted by a California court in 2021 for allegedly conspiring to engage in sex trafficking, has an active arrest warrant in the US issued on November 10, 2021, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
