DAVAO CITY , Philippines – Evangelist Pastor Apollo Quiboloy of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ the Name Above Every Name immediately went on sabbatical after his anointed presidential candidate Gilbert Teodoro wound up fourth in the elections.
Quiboloy endorsed Teodoro and Liberal Party vice presidential bet Sen. Manuel Roxas in the last elections. Roxas is trailing Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay in the count of the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting.
At his sprawling Glory Mountain here in Barangay Tamayong, Quiboloy spoke to reporters late Thursday afternoon, wondering where the church’s votes for Teodoro went.
“I myself am a little bit disturbed with the reports of fraud and cheating in the last elections. Even I am asking where did the votes of the Kingdom go? What happened to our votes when we were supposed to be solid for Gibo?” Quiboloy asked.
At the more than 200-hectare Glory Mountain, 23 hectares are planted to pine trees, an area said to be the biggest concentration of pine trees in the country.
Quiboloy explained that he was very hopeful that the automated elections would be the first time Filipinos could tell the whole world that “we are already a modern nation and know how to handle an election without fraud.”
Quiboloy said it is hard to ignore the stories of election fraud coming from all parts of the country. He said he has been asked many times in his program over Sonshine Media Network International that is aired in various parts of the world if indeed the conduct of the elections was honest and clean.
“I cannot say that yet. It is important that we really get to the bottom of this. And that the matter on the reports of fraud should be investigated by the Commission on Elections, Congress and all duly-authorized bodies so that if somebody is proclaimed president it would be without any cloud of doubt,” Quiboloy added.
Quiboloy said that the claims of a whistleblower about vote shaving operations jibed with what most have noticed about how Teodoro’s votes surged to at least 3.2 million by 10 p.m. last May 10 and remained stagnant until 10 a.m. the following day.
“It was like the whole system was programmed to the effect that should Teodoro’s votes reach that level, it would stay (there) until the counting ends,” the evangelist said.
Quiboloy also lamented how there has been a delay of almost two weeks in getting the results in certain areas reportedly due to transmission problems.
“It has been said that if it’s automated elections and it is already more than 10 days and there is still a delay in the transmission, it is already cheating,” Quiboloy said, adding that transmission is supposed to take only a few hours.
Nevertheless, Quiboloy said he would give his all-out support to Liberal Party standard-bearer Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III should he be eventually proclaimed as the next president.
“He (Aquino) needs all our support and we should all support him. I will support him in all his endeavors as president,” the pastor said.
Quiboloy said he is deeply praying that all will be well for the nation.
“If he (Aquino) is proclaimed, we will all really rally behind him,” Quiboloy said, adding that he finds Aquino to be a jolly fellow.
“I found out that he is not vindictive contrary to what others say,” the evangelist said.
But Quiboloy is also asking that the next president should be able to give Filipinos a roadmap for the years ahead.
“I hope that the next president will give us a roadmap that would tell us where we should go. Because without that, we would not be going anywhere,” he said.
And as to the many factions and interest groups surrounding Aquino, Quiboloy said, “Aquino, being the president, should be his own man.”
Did Quiboloy anoint the wrong presidentiable?
DAGUPAN CITY — Now that Aquino is president-apparent based on election results, did someone who calls himself the “Son of God” receive the wrong revelation from his “Father” and thus anointed the wrong “presidentiable”?
These are among the questions posed by Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop emeritus Oscar Cruz in his online blog yesterday as he clarified that his comments were not meant to disparage someone who calls himself the “Son of God” or to criticize his millions of followers.
Without outright naming Quiboloy, Cruz said he merely wanted to bring to the fore certain perplexities as well as some inquiries – all occasioned by the following recorded facts:
One, Quiboloy was approached by a good number of political candidates fondly called “presidentiables” for his eventual choice and anointing in order to win the recently concluded national elections according to Divine Providence.
Two, Quiboloy himself said that he needed time to consult his heavenly “Father” for the purpose of listening well to “Him” for proper guidance, knowledge and decision whom among the candidates to officially endorse.
Three, Quiboloy was eventually proved wrong in his identification and choice of presidential candidate as the anointed one.
Cruz said “without the least desire or design for people to doubt, much less to ridicule the same ‘Son of God’, reason and logic however are seeking clear answer to some plain questions.”
Did Quiboloy’s “Father” in effect commit a mistake and consequently proved wrong in “His” revelation to “His” own “Son”? Cruz wondered.
Was the “Son” instead in receipt of the wrong revelation, and thereby identified and anointed the wrong “presidentiable?”
And were the multi-million devotees and followers of the “Son of God” after all unwilling to listen to him and accept his official endorsement? – With Eva Visperas