DOJ eyes transfer of Quiboloy’s Davao cases to another court

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Justice (DOJ) said that it requested the Supreme Court (SC) to transfer the case of doomsday preacher and Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KJC) leader Apollo Quiboloy from Davao City to a different court. 

This has been revealed by DOJ spokesman Assistant Secretary Mico Clavano in a palace briefing on Thursday.

“Just as an update as well, we transferred the cases from Davao to Pasig City, so that the same team of prosecutors may be able to prosecute both cases together,” Clavano said. 

But in an ambush interview with members of the press, the DOJ spokesman said that Quiboloy’s case might be moved to a Quezon City court due to the “heavy case load” in Pasig City. 

Quiboloy and his associates have been charged with child abuse and sexual abuse offenses, with cases filed in the Davao City court.

On April 3, the said court issued a warrant of arrest against the preacher and his associates, namely Jackielyn Roy, Cresente Canada, Paulene Canada, Ingrid Canada and Sylvia Cemañes.

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On the other hand, a non-bailable qualified human trafficking case is lodged before the Pasig City court. The court has issued a warrant of arrest on April 11.

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The Justice department last week said that it had sent a letter to the Office of the Court Administrator, a body under the SC, requesting the transfer of venue for cases filed in Davao City.

However, SC’s spokesperson Camille Ting said that the high court has yet to issue a resolution for the transfer of the preacher’s case.

“The Chief Justice has not yet received the recommendation of the Office of the Court Administrator on this matter.  He earlier referred [to] the letter of DOJ Sec. Remulla to the OCA for evaluation, report, and recommendation,” Ting said in a Viber message with reporters. 

Aside from the charges lodged before the courts, Quiboloy also has a warrant of arrest from the Senate following his non-appearance to the probe concerning the alleged abuses of the KJC.