‘Quiboloy in highlands, seeking divine guidance’

MANILA, Philippines — Pastor Apollo Quiboloy is holed up in the highlands of Davao, praying for “divine guidance” while continuing to run his Kingdom of Jesus Christ ministry, according to one of his legal counsels.

Lawyer Ferdinand Topacio said he and other members of a legal team met with the embattled pastor in Davao last Wednesday to discuss Quiboloy’s “options” in dealing with his possible arrest for contempt on orders of both the House of Representatives and the Senate.

Also discussed was the ongoing move by the House to revoke the legislative franchise of Sonshine Media Network International (SMNI), which Quiboloy says he no longer owns.

Topacio clarified to “Storycon” on Cignal TV’s One News yesterday that Quiboloy continues to run the Kingdom of Jesus Christ. The arrangement for former president Rodrigo Duterte to serve as administrator of the KOJC estate is “based on a contingency,” Topacio said, meaning it will kick in only if Quiboloy is unable to run the vast properties.

As estate administrator, among Duterte’s tasks will be to preserve and protect the properties from freeze orders, expropriations or forfeiture efforts, Topacio said.

Quiboloy “is not in hiding… he’s in Davao… in the prayer mountain,” the lawyer said.

“He will go on a period of prayer and contemplation to ask for divine guidance,” Topacio told Storycon. “He’s very calm. He’s assuaged by a clear conscience.”

Topacio, citing lawyer-client privilege, declined to disclose the “options” presented to Quiboloy by the legal team. Topacio also would not say if the pastor would face Congress, which is investigating accusations against him of human and sex trafficking as well as violations of the SMNI franchise.

The revocation of the franchise has been elevated to the plenary after it was approved in the House legislative franchises committee. Topacio questioned the process by which the House is moving to revoke the franchise.

 Panel chairman Rep. Gus Tambunting of Parañaque’s second district submitted House Bill 9710 for the approval of all 308 other House colleagues. Committee Report 1024 detailed and enumerated SMNI’s violations on its franchise.  

 1-Rider party-list Rep. Rodge Gutierrez authored HB 9710, which could result in the revocation of SMNI’s legislative franchise under Republic Act 11422, which should be valid for 25 years or until 2044, until the lawmakers’ discovery of multiple franchise violations.

 “Having exposed SMNI’s multiple franchise violations, it is incumbent upon the House to exercise its mandate provided for under Article 12 Section 11 of the 1987 Constitution, by repealing RA 11422 in the interest of justice and the common good,” he stated in the measure. 

 During his sponsorship speech, Tambunting recalled that from the six “exhaustive deliberations” or hearings they conducted, Swara Sug Media Corp. – SMNI’s juridical name – committed “grave violations of the terms of its franchise, thereby warranting its revocation.” 

 “Sections 4 and 7 of RA 11422 were violated through the blatant red tagging, fake news peddling and violations of broadcasting standards,” he revealed. “It is important that broadcasting, especially news reporting, is fair and accurate.”  

 “Sections 10, 11 and 12 were also violated when changes in ownership were not reported to Congress, when the franchisee failed to comply with the dispersal of ownership requirement, and when it failed to comply with reportorial requirements for almost three decades,” Tambunting added.   

 Gutierrez, a member of the House minority bloc, observed that “SMNI failed to deliver truthful and balanced reporting to its audience,” citing as primary instance the P1.8-billion travel expense tale of SMNI anchors Jeffrey Celiz and Lorraine Badoy. 

 He said this was worsened by the network’s concealment of its ties with a Chinese TV network. 

 Officials of the Davao City-based broadcast station were forced to admit in December 2023 their collaboration with China Global Television Network, where legislators warned about information dissemination in light of China’s aggressive stance on the West Philippine Sea.

 Celiz and Badoy, hosts of the “Laban para sa Bayan,” later apologized to the Tambunting panel that they got the wrong information about Speaker Martin Romualdez’s alleged travel expenses, which the House leadership only pegged at a total of P39 million with other lawmakers. 

 “The operation of SMNI is considered a threat to national security and stability as it continues to use its platform to disseminate unverified, untruthful statements,” Gutierrez explained, noting that “non-compliance” with reportorial requirements in ownership change should make SMNI suffer. 

 “Non-compliance therewith shall render the franchise ipso facto (automatically) revoked. Even after 29 years of operation, they still failed to comply with the 30 percent requirement on dispersal of ownership,” he argued further. 

 Gutierrez also pointed out that “mere inclusion of any change in ownership in the annual report is not the compliance” stated under the law, especially since Philippines has a maritime conflict with Beijing which has repeatedly made incursions in the West Philippine Sea. 

 “Considering that the SMNI is operating as a business that requires 100 percent Filipino ownership, and any change therein requires scrutiny and acquiescence by Congress to protect public interest,” the congressman insisted. 

Meanwhile, Sen. Robin Padilla defended his position opposing the Senate’s investigation on Quiboloy as he lauded the show-cause order issued against the pastor as part of due process.

Padilla brushed away social media posts bashing him for aligning himself with a religious leader wanted by the US government for sex human trafficking and is the subject of a Senate investigation for alleged rape.

“What I am doing is part of democracy. For me, this person has a right to due process. We cannot just render judgment on him,” Padilla said in Filipino at the Senate yesterday.

“I am not lawyering for Quiboloy. But I just want to have the Senate rules of procedure followed,” Padilla said. – Ghio Ong, Marc Jayson Cayabyab