PASTOR Apollo C. Quiboloy is literally “caught between the devil and the deep blue sea” facing two difficult choices, neither of which is desirable for the self-proclaimed “Anointed Son of God.”

Now being held at the maximum-security PNP Custodial Center in Camp Crame without the company of his four co-accused in a trafficking case, Quiboloy is facing the prospect of being jailed at the New Bilibid Prisons or in a United States prison facility.

The two choices are both equally unpleasant or not convenient for the Kingdom of Jesus Christ founder. First, he faces the prospect of a life term in a cramped Philippine jail should he be convicted of the trafficking case filed against him.

However, his lawyers are highly-optimistic that they can score a favorable court verdict as they maintain that the cases filed against the KOJC leader are all trumped-up charges with no enough evidence or witnesses to pin the latter down.

Should that happen, the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation is just waiting in the wings, ready to bring him to American soil to face the string of criminal charges filed against him there.

Several sources told me that next year would be crucial in determining the outcome of the cases filed in U.S. against the KOJC leader, granting there would really be a speedy trial of his cases in our country, bereft of the lawyers’ usual dilatory tactics to delay the progress of the legal proceedings.

It should be noted that during the stepped-up hunt for the KOJC founder last month, Quiboloy’s chief legal counsel Israelito Torreon reiterated the pastor’s condition for President Bongbong Marcos to issue a written declaration that he would not be rendered to the U.S. where he is facing conspiracy to engage in sex trafficking by force, coercion, and sex trafficking of children.

The Commander-in-Chief dismissed the pastor’s demands as”tail-wagging” the government even as he assured that all proceedings in his child and sexual abuse case would be “fair.” “Ang maipapangako ko all the proceedings will be fair. Now, as to the involvement of the United states, malayo pa yan eh. That’s going to take years. So I don’t think that it is something he should worry about,” PBBM said two weeks before Quiboloy’s capture.

Justice Secretary Boying Remulla also maintained that the charges against Quiboloy were not weak and there was direct evidence to prove all the elements of the offenses charged. The Pasig trafficking case against Quiboloy is non-bailable.

Quiboloy’s demand to PBBM clearly was an indication that his worst fear is being extradited to the U.S. where he is facing a string of federal offenses punishable by life imprisonment in the unlikely event he is acquitted of all criminal charges filed against him by government prosecutors.

“It would literally be like an eternal damnation for him should he be extradited to the U.S. No more daily visits from his lawyers, family and friends. He will be a very ordinary inmate in an American prison just like the others,” a friend of mine who is involved in all-out government efforts to prosecute and convict the 74-year old pastor told me.

For the record, U.S. prosecutors in November 2021 indicted Quiboloy and several others for allegedly orchestrating a sex trafficking operation that preyed on victims as young as 12, using threats of “eternal damnation” and physical abuse.

The same month also saw the FBI announcing a warrant for Quiboloy’s arrest saying numerous cases and witnesses have surfaced detailing the alleged abuses taking place within the pastor’s supposed sex trafficking activities.

I have learned that the FBI has taken custody of some alleged victims of Quiboloy’s sex trafficking network which uses force, fraud and coercion both here and in the U.S. His two co-accused identified as Filipino-American citizens Teresita Dandan and Helen Panilag are still being hunted however.

Last week, Philippine Ambassador to the U.S. Jose Manuel Romualdez said Quiboloy’s extradition to America is “inevitable.” “If Pastor Quiboloy is guilty, he has to face the music in the Philippines. But here, he also faces numerous cases and witnesses coming forward openly, citing instances of abuse, human trafficking, sex trafficking, and child abuse connected to the pastor. All these need to go through the justice system,” the official told GMA News.

“So at some point in time we’ll have to face up to it also that the extradition is inevitable,” Ambassador Romualdez said. At the same time, Sec. Remulla said they are expecting the U.S. to file an extradition request for Quiboloy very soon but the KOJC leader should face the charges filed against him in the Philippines first.

Quiboloy has been charged with violation of Republic Act 7610 or the Special Protection of Children Against Abuse, Exploitation, and Discrimination Act before a Quezon City regional trial court and a non-bailable qualified human trafficking case under RA 9208 before a Pasig court. He and his co-accused have pleaded not guilty to the charges filed against them.

KOJC lawyers earlier tried hard but failed in their effort to seek the continued detention of Quiboloy’s co-accused Cresente Canada, Ingrid Canada, Jackielyn Roy and Silvia Cemañes at the PNP Custodial Center. Now that the four have been transferred to the Pasig City Jail, Quiboloy is all by himself in his cell with no one to assist him.

His Camp Crame cell is without an air-conditioning system and he has been stripped of his mobile phone and gadgets with authorized visitors tightly screened. No more girls too. I can’t imagine what will be his situation in case he is sent to an American jail in the future.

AUTHOR PROFILE

Alfred P. Dalizon