The cases of qualified human trafficking and child abuse that Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KOJC) founder Apollo C. Quiboloy are facing in two separate trial courts in Metro Manila could be consolidated and handled by one court as permitted in the judiciary’s Rules of Court.
The rules allow the consolidation of cases “for offenses founded on the same facts or forming part of a series of offenses of similar character.”
Under the same rules, the purposes of consolidation of trials are “to avoid multiplicity of suits, guard against oppression or abuse, prevent delay, clear congested dockets, simplify the work of the trial court, and save unnecessary cost and expenses.”
Legal quarters said the first step in the consolidation is for any of the litigants, like the prosecutors, to petition the Supreme Court (SC) to re-transfer the venue of the case filed against Quiboloy and his co-accused from the Quezon City regional trial court (RTC) to the Pasig City RTC.
It could be recalled that the child abuse case was originally filed before the Davao City RTC but on a plea by the Department of Justice (DOJ), the case was transferred by the SC to the Quezon City RTC.
The case against Quiboloy and his co-accused for qualified human trafficking was filed originally by the DOJ before the Pasig City RTC.
Once the SC orders the re-transfer of the Quezon City case to Pasig City, the consolidation of the two cases can be sought if the case from Quezon City is raffled to a different judge other than the one who is now handling the human trafficking case.
In previous Supreme Court (SC) decisions, the High Court had ruled that consolidation of cases seeks to attain justice with the least expense and vexation to the litigants.
In one decision, the SC ruled that “joint trial is proper where the offenses are similar, related or connected, or are of the same or similar character or class, occurrences, transactions, series of events, or chain of circumstances, or are based on act or transactions constituting parts of a common scheme or plan, or of the same pattern and committed in the same manner, or where there is a common element of substantial importance in their commission, or where the same, or much of the evidence will be competent and admissible or required in their prosecution, and if not joined for trial the repetition or reproduction of substantially the same testimony will be required on each trial.”
Before the Pasig City RTC, Quiboloy and five co-accused -- Cresente Canada, Ingrid Canada, Jackielyn Roy, Sylvia Cemanes, and Pauleen Canada -- were charged with non-bailable qualified human trafficking based on “Amanda’s” complaint. The accused pleaded “not guilty” when arraigned last Friday, Sept. 13.
At the Quezon City RTC, Quiboloy and his co-accused were charged with child abuse, also filed by “Amanda,” and they also pleaded “not guilty.”
Both trial courts have scheduled the pre-trial of the cases and the markings of the documents.
During the arraignment at the Pasig City RTC, Quiboloy was brought to the courtroom under heavy security with at least 100 policemen deployed around the city hall.
The arraignment before the Quezon City RTC was done via video conferencing.
Quiboloy will remain detained at the Custodial Center of the Philippine National Police (PNP) in Camp Crame, in Quezon City, while his co-accused have been ordered detained at the Pasig City jail.
Neither prosecutors of the DOJ nor any of Quiboloy’s lawyers could be contacted for comment on the consolidation of Quiboloy’s cases at the time of posting.
But some legal quarters said that the parties in criminal cases “are not keen on consolidation for reasons of legal strategy.”
One lawyer explained that “this is so because a favorable ruling handed down by the trial court in one case may be used to challenge the unfavorable ruling issued by another judge.”
“And the conflicting rulings by two courts can be good bases of appeal before the appellate court,” he added.