The regional trial courts (RTCs) in Davao City and Pasig City have been asked to issue hold departure orders (HDOs) against Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KOJC) founder Apollo C. Quiboloy to stop him from leaving the country.
“I believe the prosecutors have already filed their motions to issue a hold departure order,” said DOJ Assistant Secretary Jose Dominic F. Clavano IV during a press briefing held in Malacanang on Thursday, April 25.
During the briefing, Clavano confirmed that the criminal case filed against Quiboloy and five other accused before the Davao City RTC had been transferred to the Pasig City RTC.
Pending before the Pasig City RTC is the non-bailable charge of qualified human trafficking against Quiboloy and his co-accused. Transferred from the Davao City RTC were the charges for violations of Sections 10(a) and 5(b) of RA 7610, the Special Protection of Children Against Abuse, Exploitation and Discrimination Act.
The criminal cases arose from the complaint filed by a 17-year-old girl who claimed she was sexually abused by Quiboloy.
With the transfer of the criminal case from the Davao City RTC, it is expected that the Pasig City RTC would issue the HDO pleaded by government prosecutors.
However, a check with the Supreme Court (SC) showed the Office of Chief Justice Alexander G. Gesmundo has not received the recommendation from the Office of the Court Administrator (OCA) on the transfer of the case.
SC Spokesperson Atty. Camille Sue Mae L. Ting said Chief Justice Gesmundo referred the letter of DOJ Secretary Jesus Crispin C. Remulla to the OCA "for evaluation, report, and recommendation."
Thus, as of 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 25, Quiboloy's case filed before the Davao City has not been transferred to any RTC branch in Metro Manila.
Clavano said: "Once you have a respondent or an accused that is a flight risk, especially given the resources that this person has, then the prosecutors are very diligent in making sure that doesn’t happen.”
He pointed out that while no HDO has been issued yet, Quiboloy has been placed in the lookout bulletin of the Bureau of Immigration (BI) to monitor if the KOJC founder will attempt to flee the country.
So far, he said, intelligence information received by the DOJ show that Quiboloy "is still currently in the country.”
In the meantime, he assured that law enforcers continue to find Quiboloy who has been ordered arrested both by the Pasig City and Davao City RTCs.