Court junks Quiboloy’s plea for house arrest

MANILA, Philippines — A Pasig court rejected yesterday the petition of alleged sex offender Apollo Quiboloy for house arrest.

Quiboloy, founder of the religious group Kingdom of Jesus Christ, sought to be detained either at his KOJC property in Davao, in Quezon City or in Tagaytay.

He is being held at the Pasig City jail on charges of human trafficking.

Quiboloy, who is running for senator in the midterm elections in May, has been in and out of the hospital since January due to pneumonia and hypertension.

Judge Rainelda Estacio-Montesa of the Pasig Regional Trial Court Branch 159 said Quiboloy’s state of health does not automatically qualify him for house arrest.

“Mere conjectures regarding the potential deterioration of his health, while in detention, are insufficient to justify the grant of house arrest,” the ruling stated.

The court ruled that Quiboloy’s health can be safeguarded while in detention through the medical interventions available at the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology clinic and those which the court may prescribe.

The court said Quiboloy could not compare himself to former presidents Joseph Estrada and Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who were placed under house arrest, because their petitions involved bail proceedings, presenting “substantial differences” to his case.