Key witness vs Quiboloy to be placed under WPP

MANILA, Philippines — A key witness in the child abuse case against preacher Apollo Quiboloy will be placed under the Witness Protection Program (WPP) due to perceived threats to her life, an official of the Department of Justice (DOJ) said on Friday.

DOJ Undersecretary Nicholas Felix Ty said the agency is processing the enrollment of the key witness in the WPP.

“There really is a need (to enroll her) because she is the key witness in this case. And she said it herself that life threats are being made against her,” Ty said at a press conference.

“It should be just right to place her under the WPP,” he added.

A Davao City court earlier issued an arrest warrant against Quiboloy for child and sexual abuse charges.

A second warrant was recently issued against the preacher by a Pasig City court for the non-bailable offense of qualified human trafficking.

According to Ty, the DOJ has asked the Supreme Court to transfer the venue of the cases filed in Davao City to the Pasig City court.

Reconsideration

The lawyers of the Quiboloy camp are set to file a motion for reconsideration in relation to the arrest warrant ordered by the Pasig court for the non-bailable offense of qualified human trafficking.

“I might file an Omnibus Motion for Reconsideration from the Order denying the Motion to Suspend Proceeding with Motion to Withhold Implementation of Warrant of Arrest,” Israelito Torreon, Quiboloy’s legal counsel, told The STAR in a text message.

Torreon said they would file the motion on Monday.

He added that he would have filed the motion on Friday, but deferred it because he had to secure the opinions and comments from his co-counsels.

Aside from the arrest warrant issued by the Pasig court, Quiboloy also has standing warrants for child and sexual abuse charges from the Davao court.

Quiboloy also has an arrest warrant from the Senate for his refusal to attend its committee hearings.

The religious leader earlier claimed that he will surrender only if the government agrees to his conditions that will ensure that he will not be handed over to the Americans.

Quiboloy insists that the American government is out to kill him.

His friend, former president Rodrigo Duterte, said that Quiboloy is just hiding in his mountainside compound in Tamayong, Davao City.

Quiboloy’s lawyer, however, would not confirm this, saying that Duterte was merely joking. — Diana Lhyd Suelto