A Pasig City Regional Trial Court (RTC) on Thursday issued an arrest order against Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KOJC) controversial leader Apollo Quiboloy and five others over qualified human trafficking.
In a three-page order issued by Pasig City RTC Branch 159, Acting Presiding Judge Rainelda Estacio-Montes said they have found probable cause for Quiboloy and his accomplices' arrest after "personally examining the information and its supporting documents."
The arrest order comes after denying the motion of Quiboloy’s camp asking to defer or suspend the proceedings and hold in abeyance the issuance of the warrant.
Quiboloy’s camp sought the suspension of the criminal proceedings due to a pending motion for reconsideration before the Office of Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla.
“After consideration of the arguments brought forth by the parties, the court finds the Motion to Defer/Suspend Proceedings and Hold in Abeyance Issuance of Warrant of Arrest to be a prohibited motion and should therefore be denied,” the court order said
Aside from the doomsday preacher, also ordered arrest were his co-accused Jackielyn W. Roy, Cresente Canada, Paulene Canada, Ingrid C. Canada, and Sylvia Cemanes. All of them were charged with violation of Section 4(a) of Republic Act No. 9208, the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2003.
Prior to this, a Davao court issued a warrant of arrest against Quiboloy and five others over charges of child abuse.
Last month, the Senate also issued an arrest warrant against the preacher for his non-appearance in the probe of the alleged abuses of Quiboloy and his “church” the Kingdom of Jesus Christ.
Quiboloy is also included in the Federal Bureau of Investigation's wanted list "for his alleged participation in a labor trafficking scheme that brought church members to the United States, via fraudulently obtained visas, and forced the members to solicit donations for a bogus charity, donations that actually were used to finance church operations and the lavish lifestyles of its leaders."
