Sanctioning Quiboloy

On Saturday, the United States treasury department announced a freeze on all US assets of self-proclaimed “Appointed Son of God,” televangelist Apollo Quiboloy, and his Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KOJC) religious sect.

The asset freeze means all transactions involving properties and entities that Quiboloy owns, directly or indirectly, in the US will be blocked and reported to the Office of Foreign Assets Control (Ofac), while the provision of funds, goods, and services for him or from him will be prohibited. The US assets of the staunch Duterte ally reportedly include a multimillion mansion in Calabasas, California, luxury cars, an $18-million private plane, and some $20 million in donations collected from 2014 to mid-2019 by the Los Angeles branch of KOJC alone.

The move was part of US sanctions on about 40 persons in nine countries that coincided with the observance of International Anti-Corruption Day on Dec. 9 alongside Human Rights Day on Dec. 10, and was meant to “promote accountability for human rights abusers and corrupt actors across the world.”

“For more than a decade, Apollo Carreon Quiboloy engaged in serious human rights abuse, including a pattern of systemic and pervasive rape of girls as young as 11 years old, as well as other physical abuse,” the Ofac said in a press statement.

The forfeiture order came as a surprise to Quiboloy’s lawyers, with his American counsel, Michael Jay Green, saying that his client was already being punished even before the start of his trial on sex trafficking charges that has been reset to 2024.

Green was referring to Quiboloy’s indictment in November 2021 by a US federal grand jury for the sex-trafficking of girls under threat of “eternal damnation,” as well as immigration offenses. On Jan. 31 this year, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) published a wanted poster seeking information leading to Quiboloy’s arrest on the charges.

Despite the US sanction, Department of Justice (DOJ) Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla has adopted a wait and see stance, shrugging off a possible extradition request from the US, saying, “It would take a long time, (the US would) have to file the necessary cases first … We’re waiting for things to happen from our end.”

While stressing that the DOJ was supportive of the US’ cause in protecting human rights, DOJ spokesperson and Assistant Secretary Mico Clavano said it was “too premature” to speak on the issue. “Allow us to gather verified information and seek US legal experts’ advice. Then we can act accordingly.”

But House Assistant Minority Leader and Gabriela women’s party list representative Arlene Brosas urged the government to take a more decisive stand, instead of just waiting for the extradition request from the US. For one, she pointed out, the DOJ should task the Anti-Money Laundering Council and the National Security Council to “conduct an exhaustive investigation on Pastor Quiboloy’s offenses and financial transactions, and enable victims to come forward through a witness protection program.” This is mandated under Republic Act No. 11862 or the Expanded Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act, she added.

ACT Teachers’ party list Rep. France Castro, who called the US sanction on Quiboloy “a good development,” said she hopes it would “serve as a signal to local authorities to also look into the illegal activities of Pastor Quiboloy here. Wala dapat sacred cow dito.”

Indeed, Quiboloy’s close association as spiritual adviser to former president Duterte has made him untouchable under the previous administration, with Mr. Duterte admitting that the pastor had given him real estate properties, cars, and the use of his private jet. In return, Quiboloy’s TV station, Sonshine Media, was among three firms owned by the former president’s allies to be given the radio frequencies of the Lopez-owned ABS-CBN network that was shuttered by the government for alleged tax violations.

In June 2020, the Prosecutor’s Office in Davao City—where Duterte served as mayor for some 20 years—dismissed the charges of rape, child abuse, physical abuse, trafficking in persons through forced labor, and trafficking in persons through sexual abuse filed in December 2019 against Quiboloy and five others by a former member of the KOJC. A petition for review of the complaint is pending before the DOJ.

With the sex trafficking of children considered a grave criminal offense anywhere in the world, Quiboloy is bound to face unflinching prosecution by the US should it perceive the Philippine judicial system as being too weak and deferential to the “Owner of the Universe.”

The best recourse, then, is for the DOJ to cooperate with the prosecution to give Quiboloy his day in court, while allowing his victims a chance to pursue justice. Doing so would also prove that the country’s judicial system works, as Remulla and other justice officials have stoutly maintained, to bar the International Criminal Court from investigating Mr. Duterte for “crimes against humanity” in connection with his brutal war against drugs.

At the very least, such commitment to law would restore the Filipinos’ trust in the country’s legal system.