The arrest of religious leader Apollo Quiboloy has dealt a significant hit to the political stock of ex-Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte and his daughter Vice-President Sara Duterte-Carpio, analysts say.
Observers also say that the capture of the self-appointed “son of God” has placed the Duterte camp on the backfoot in its ongoing feud with Philippine President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.
Known as the spiritual adviser of ex-president Duterte, Quiboloy is wanted by Philippine and American authorities on several charges, including sexual abuse and child sex trafficking.
Quiboloy is the founder of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KOJC), a religious group based in Davao City, the bailiwick of the Dutertes.
Former Philippine congressman Barry Gutierrez described the arrest of Quiboloy as a “tremendous hit” on the Dutertes.
“It’s definitely a body blow to the Dutertes,” Gutierrez told South China Morning Post’s This Week in Asia on September 9, 2024.
“Quiboloy and his group have long been suspected of holding assets for the Dutertes. Hence, their all out support for the pastor despite the nefarious activities he is involved with. The practical effect of his fall, and freezing of assets, is their loss of access to those assets,” said Gutierrez, who previously served as spokesman for former Philippine vice-president Maria Leonor “Leni” Robredo.
Gutierrez added, “In addition, the fact that they were unable to protect him, a very close ally, even in their supposed seat of their power, Davao City, is a tremendous hit on their political reputation and clout. If there were still doubts that the Dutertes were in decline, this definitively settles that they are.”
Ex-president Duterte considers Quiboloy as a close friend. Their ties go back decades when Duterte was mayor of Davao City since the late 1980’s.
Quiboloy founded the KOJC in Davao in 1985, and has claimed that he has seven million followers in the Philippines and abroad, including in countries like Canada.
The Marcos and Duterte families entered into a coalition in the 2022 national elections, which delivered landslide victories to then presidential candidate Marcos Jr. and his running mate Duterte-Carpio.
However, the alliance started to fray not long after the election, leading to the eventual resignation of Duterte-Carpio from Marcos Jr.’s Cabinet effective July 19, 2024.
Prior to Duterte-Carpio’s resignation, her father accused Marcos Jr. of being a drug addict.
Marcos Jr. laughed off the allegations, and claimed that ex-president Duterte was using fentanyl, a powerful opioid.
The former president also alleged that allies of Marcos Jr. are plotting to amend the 1987 Philippine Constitution so the current president can extend his tenure beyond his constitutionally-set term ending in 2028.
Ramon Beleno III is a political science professor at the Ateneo de Davao University, and he has weighed in on the outcome of Quiboloy’s arrest.
“If this is a boxing match, they are putting the Dutertes in a corner,” Beleno III said in a report by Bloomberg.
“When a boxer is put in a corner, it will have no choice but be defensive. This is a way of containing the Dutertes,” Beleno III also said.
Meanwhile, the Philippine Star reported that ex-president Duterte has taken over as administrator of all assets of Quiboloy.
This developed as the Court of Appeals extended the freeze order on the bank accounts, real estate and other assets registered under Quiboloy’s name and the KOJC.
The paper noted that according to the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC), the freeze order has been extended to February 6, 2025, based on an August 20, 2024 ruling of the appellate court.
The Philippine Star related that on August 7 this year, the Court of Appeals initially imposed a 20-day freeze order after finding merit in the sexual exploitation, human trafficking and financial smuggling cases filed against Quiboloy and four others.
Quiboloy, Jackielyn Roy, Ingrid Canada, Cresente Canada, and Sylvia Cements were arrested inside the KOJC compound on September 8, 2024. The five were transported to Manila on the same day.
Marcos Jr. hailed the arrest of Quiboloy as “police work at its best”, justifying the deployment of about 2,000 personnel to capture the pastor.
The South China Morning Post also reported that former senator Antonio Trillanes IV told This Week in Asia that Quiboloy’s arrest is “surely bad for the Dutertes”
Trillanes IV said that the arrest “symbolises the fall of his erstwhile untouchable Davao empire”. Trillanes said.
According to the former senator, Quiboloy is “nothing but a mere acolyte and front for Duterte”.
By Carlito Pablo
