Quiboloy seeks Senate seat; Guo not running

MANILA, Philippines — Detained without bail and facing possible extradition, Apollo Quiboloy is unbowed.

The pastor of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ is gunning for the Senate, with his legal representative Mark Tolentino submitting the KOJC founder’s certificate of candidacy at the Manila Hotel Tent on the last day of the COC filing period yesterday.

In a speech delivered for him by Tolentino, Quiboloy promised a “God-centered, Philippine-centered and Filipino-centered” governance if he gets elected.

On the other hand, dismissed mayor Alice Guo of Bamban, Tarlac said yesterday she had decided to abandon her bid for a second term.

Guo bared her decision not to run for reelection at yesterday’s public hearing of the Senate committee on women, children and family relations chaired by Sen. Risa Hontiveros.

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) gave Guo her latest legal woe, ordering the filing of criminal charges against her for misrepresenting herself as a Filipino citizen.

“The Law Department (of the Comelec) finds probable cause and recommends the filing of information before the court against the respondent (Guo),” the poll body said in an 11-page decision.

During previous Senate hearings, Guo was unmasked as a Chinese national named Guo Hua Ping.

At the hearing yesterday, Senate President Pro-Tempore Jinggoy Estrada asked Guo if she would be running again for mayor. Alice Guo replied, “Sa ngayon hindi po (Not at the moment).”

“What changed your mind?” Estrada further asked Guo. “I will face the accusations against me first, I will clear my name first,” she replied.

According to Tolentino, religious freedom will be Quiboloy’s top advocacy.

“He believes that religious freedom is inviolable and the government should secure holy grounds against state forces,” Tolentino said.

He added that Quiboloy aims to represent the poor, by giving them greater acces to free medicine, faster medical services and quality education.

“He will be the senator for the poor, the ordinary Filipinos and workers… someone approachable and willing to listen to the problems of the people,” he said.

When asked how Quiboloy would run for office while in detention, Tolentino responded, “The Philippines will campaign for him.”

He said Quiboloy will run under the Workers and Peasants Party, with volunteer groups from KOJC forming his campaign machinery.

Quiboloy, currently detained at the Pasig City Jail following his arrest at the KOJC compound in Davao City on Sept. 8, faces multiple charges, including violation of labor laws and sex trafficking.

Philippine National Police spokesperson Col. Jean Fajardo said the pastor has the right to seek an elective post.

“Eveybody is entitled to run if they they are qualified,” she said.

Kiko, Bikoy eye Senate

Another aspiring senator with criminal record also filed his COC yesterday. Peter Joemel “Bikoy” Advincula said he decided to run for senator as an independent candidate so he could help reform the corrections system.

In 2019, Advincula appeared in a viral video where he linked the Duterte family to illegal drugs. He said he is contesting his conviction for perjury before the Court of Appeals.

Former senator Francis Pangilinan also showed up at the Manila Hotel – accompanied by his singer-actress wife Sharon Cuneta – to formalize his bid for a Senate comeback under the Liberal Party.

He said helping bring down the price of rice would be his main advocacy.

“We cannot reach the developed nation status and achieve food security if we are not able to address the high prices of rice,” Pangilinan said. Although lagging in surveys, Pangilinan said he is confident of making it again to the Senate with support from different party-list groups and votes from the youth sector.

Former Marcos administration executive secretary Vic Rodriguez also filed his COC for senator. He said he would be running as an independent candidate, with an endorsement from Duterte.

He decided to run for senator so he could help stamp out corruption if he wins.

Rodriguez said he had agreed to work for Marcos “to temper greed and corruption.” But he said “the opposite happened.” He also said he would be a representative of the “true opposition” if he gets elected.

Former Catanduanes congressman Leandro Verceles Jr. also filed his COC for senator under President Marcos’ Partido Federal ng Pilipinas (PFP).

As a senator, Verceles said he would file a bill revolutionalizing Philippine education by using artificial intelligence.

Heidi files COC

Former Commission on Audit commissioner Heidi Mendoza, one of the whistleblowers in the multi-billion-peso pork barrel scam, also launched her Senate bid as an independent candidate yesterday.

After her stint with COA, she was nominated to serve as the undersecretary general for the UN Office of Internal Oversight Services in 2015.

Meanwhile, several members of the House of Representatives have launched their bids for reelection.

Among them were Reps. Margarita “Migs” Nograles, Jay Khonghun, Paolo Ortega V, Rodge Gutierrez and Queenie Gonzales, who will return as Mandaluyong congresswoman to replace her husband Neptali II.

Nograles, daughter of the late speaker Prospero Nograles, filed her COC not as Puwersa ng Bayaning Atleta (PBA) party-list, but as first district congresswoman of Davao City, where she would be pitted against incumbent Rep. Paolo Duterte, son of former president Duterte.

Television host Wilfredo Revillame also officially launched his senatorial bid by filing his COC yesterday.

Revillame arrived at the Manila Hotel Tent just a few minutes before the 5 p.m. closing time for the filing of COC.

Revillame’s filing of COC was shown live on his “Will to Win” program on Channel 5.

Revillame, a known supporter of former president Duterte, is running as an independent candidate.

Fifty-seven aspiring senators yesterday rushed to the Manila Hotel Tent to beat the deadline for filing of COCs.

At the closing of the filing hour, Comelec said a total of 184 aspirants for the senators had officially filed their COCs since the start of filing last Oct. 1.

For the party-list elections, 190 organizations and political groups filed their certificate of nomination and certificate of acceptance, including the 53 filers yesterday.

Two hours after closing time, the Comelec was still processing COCs of those who arrived at the Manila Hotel before 5 p.m. deadline. — Marc Jayson Cabrera, Emmanuel Tupas