NEWS

8-bed cell awaits Quiboloy in QC jail

Alvin Murcia, Jing Villamente, Lade Jean Kabagani

If Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KoJC) leader Pastor Apollo Quiboloy is remanded to the New Quezon City Jail in Bagong Silangan, Quezon City, he will be placed in a cell designed for eight detainees and will wear the standard yellow uniform marked “PDL” at the back.

Bureau of Jail Management and Penology–National Capital Region (BJMP-NCR) Chief Supt. Clint Russel Tangeres said the 74-year-old Quiboloy will not receive any preferential treatment but will be subjected to the same standard operating procedures, including medical checkups, record booking, fingerprinting and orientation on jail rules and regulations.

On Tuesday, the Regional Trial Court (RTC) of Quezon City ordered the transfer of Quiboloy and his four co-accused from the Philippine National Police (PNP) Headquarters Support Service Custodial Center to regular jails in connection with the child abuse cases filed against them.

In a one-page order, QC RTC Branch 106 Presiding Judge Noel Parel directed the chief of the PNP Custodial Center to transfer Quiboloy and co-accused Cresente Canada to the New Quezon City Jail on Payatas Road, Bagong Silangan, Quezon City.

The three female co-accused — Jackielyn Roy, Ingrid Canada, and Sylvia Cemanes — are to be moved to the Quezon City Jail Female Dormitory at Camp Karingal, Maginhawa, Diliman.

The court ordered the wardens of the two facilities to produce the accused for arraignment and pre-trial via video conference on 13 September at 8:30 a.m.

However, Quiboloy will remain in the custody of the PNP.

Quiboloy also faces a sexual abuse case in another Quezon City court and a qualified human trafficking case in the Pasig City RTC.

DND opposes Quiboloy petition

The Department of National Defense (DND) has emphasized that the custody Quiboloy and his co-accused should remain with law enforcement agencies, as their alleged crimes fall under civilian jurisdiction and not the general court-martial.

DND’s Legal and Legislative Affairs chief, Assistant Secretary Erik Lawrence Dy, submitted a four-page “comment opposition” to the Pasig Regional Trial Court Branch 159 in response to Quiboloy’s “very urgent motion to transfer” his custody to the AFP.