“Quiboloy can fend for himself, Palace spokesman Harry Roque said after the pastor was linked recently to the US indictment of an associate for trying to smuggle out of Hawaii hundreds of thousands of dollars.

‘Twas fun talking about religion when this rubbernecker was not discussing politics with my late friend Fernan Emberga.

Emberga was an anchor at Sonshine Radio, one of the 17 radio stations owned by religious leader Apollo Quiboloy in the Philippines, before his death due to complications with diabetes.

We were political rivals during our college days but we developed friendship as we nurtured our professional careers in the media.

He did not finish college on time. He was kicked out of the Lyceum for supposedly leading a rally. Campus security used a photograph of a masked student leader blocking entry to students, workers and professors to disrupt classes. It was enough evidence to deny him enrolment in the next semester.

But I was the masked young man in the photograph.

I maybe digressing too much, but Fernan only relived those years as he thanked our group for raising funds for his operation that saved his leg. We could not save him further when complications of the disease we have in common set in later. He died in June last year.

His Sonshine job was his last stint. He claimed to have seen Quiboloy which prompted me to ask about his employer’s life.

When I asked about Quiboloy’s age. Fernan quickly shot back: “Maybe around 80, or even older. But he looks really young, like in his mid-30s.”

Quiboloy was born on 25 April 1950 in Lubao, Pampanga. But Fernan’s reply to my query added to the mystique that surrounds the self-proclaimed “appointed son of God.”

Easily accessible information about Quiboloy makes him just 68 years old. He is younger than Eliseo Soriano (Ang Dating Daan) and Eddie Villanueva (Jesus is Lord) who are both 71.

Eduardo Manalo, eldest son of the late Eraño G. Manalo, and the incumbent Executive Minister of the Iglesia Ni Cristo (INC), is younger at 62.

Quiboloy’s Kingdom of Jesus Christ, The Name Above Every Name, Inc., could not match in numbers with the INC. But we cannot say he could not hold a candle with the other churches and denominations in terms of assets and properties.

From being a member of the Pentecostal Church, Quiboloy proclaimed himself as the “appointed son of God” to about 20 followers before his church grew big to possess a community called Kingdom Nation open to about four million followers in Davao, Jose Maria College, Sonshine Media Network International which owns 17 radio stations and television channels, two newspapers and Sonshine Sports Management.

He placed a bet on the presidency once with Gilbert Teodoro who lost in 2010. His next bet won, though, when he claimed to have heard God’s whisper that Davao City mayor will become the next Philippine president.

His relationship with Mr. Duterte had gone sour somehow for a reason we were told.

Quiboloy can fend for himself, Palace spokesman Harry Roque said after the pastor was linked recently to the US indictment of an associate for trying to smuggle out of Hawaii hundreds of thousands of dollars aboard a private jet last February.

There have been other accusations hurled at Quiboloy by former members of his church.

There is also another by the Bagobo people involving a 700-hectare ancestral domain in Tugbok which is adjacent to Quiboloy’s Kingdom Nation.

And then there was one accusation that he kept a young female member against the will of her parents. But these were accusations. To prove them lies in the hands of his accusers.

Quiboloy is no different from us, though. No matter his claimed appointment as a son of God. He wheels, he deals, he preaches, he gets tainted whether guilty or not.

Quiboloy is human, like you and me. Make “no mystique” about it.

“We have a spiritual figure whose name has been linked to a controversy involving money, guns and human trafficking.

On his birthday this year, Apollo Quiboloy gave a big bash for indigent children in Davao.

Quiboloy, founder of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KJC), The Name Above Every Name, Inc. and self-proclaimed “Appointed Son of God,” named his event the “13th International Children’s Day.”

A huge purple and gold cake took the place of honor, having been sent by President Rody Duterte who did not attend.

The cake was undoubtedly special not only because the Philippine President gave it but because the latter happens to be a long-time friend. A friendship spanning 30 years, to be exact, or so say news reports.

Other politicians, however, graced the affair, including Ilocos Norte Gov. Imee Marcos, former Congressman Samuel Pagdilao, former Batangas Gov. Antonio Leviste and Davao City Councilor Jimmy Dureza.

Quiboloy’s name only existed in the fringes until Duterte made it to Malacañang.

His support of the President and massive efforts to convince him to run in the first place became fodder for talk, especially when curiosity was spiked by allegations of a Duterte hidden wealth as pushed forth by Sen. Antonio Trillanes.

The President had been very candid about receiving valuable gifts from Quiboloy. He told media in the past that the pastor was a generous man, giving him properties in Davao and cars too. The President has also been quoted as saying that what Quiboloy gets for himself, he would likely get two because the other one would be for Duterte.

Many times, the former Davao mayor said he had refused these gifts but they kept coming.

Perhaps by giving them, the KJC founder thought he could influence the President with his suggestions of Cabinet appointments. This issue, however, reportedly caused a rift between the two when Duterte refused to heed these suggestions.

And when news of that sticky situation in Hawaii where a federal grand jury charged Quiboloy’s staff Felina S. Salinas with cash smuggling for failing to report that she was carrying $335,000 in US currency and $9,000 in Australian dollars in February aboard the pastor’s private plane, people tuned in to what Malacañang would say. But the President alluded to his friend’s own capabilities, short of saying: he can take care of himself.

Friendships, we know, can be quite complicated. With this high-profile one, we have one religious figure who seems to enjoy material indulgences and we have one President who swears by a simple life with simple needs.

We have a spiritual figure whose name has been linked to a controversy involving money, guns and human trafficking and then we have one political leader who has professed controversial views about religion and is solidly against crime and corruption.

Both men are pretty powerful in their own right. Quiboloy claims “about two million ‘Kingdom citizens’ abroad and four million in the Philippines,” as well as “a global television channel, 17 radio stations and two newspapers.” Meanwhile, Duterte has millions, too, in following and support.

These days, when numbers are paramount in a leader’s life, politicians who hope for longevity and influence have no qualms surrounding themselves with people who “bring the numbers.”

This is why people like Mocha Uson have a place in this administration. This is probably why Quiboloy’s events are attended by politicians.

In some ways and for certain “relationships,” it is quite possible to have one’s cake and eat it, too.