By Junex Doronio
MANILA — After popular TV gameshow host Willie Revillame announced his readiness to run for senator in the 2025 midterm elections, now comes another staunch ally of former President Rodrigo Roa Duterte and he’s no other than controversial televangelist Pastor Apollo C. Quiboloy who also reportedly aims to secure a Senate seat next year.
Political pundits told Maharlika NuMedia that if the rumors are true then Quiboloy’s supposed Senate bid is seen as a strategy to gain immunity from US sex trafficking charges and to support former President Duterte’s political ambitions, notably his “Quixotic quest to establish a separate and independent Mindanao.”
Reliable sources said Quiboloy drew inspiration from Senator Joel Villanueva, who won his reelection bid largely because of millions of “command votes” of Jesus Is Lord (JIL) born-again Christian congregation, which his father, CIBAC party-list Rep. Eddie Villanueva, established.
The Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KOJC) Church, which puts Quiboloy on its pedestal as the “Appointed Son of God,” claims to have at least 4 million members in the Philippines.
Ironically, the Davao-based KOJC accused Senator Risa Hontiveros of violating Quibuloy’s constitutional rights even as he refused to attend her committee’s hearing on the alleged abuses done against his former followers.
In an audio recording posted on the Facebook page Buhay Kingdom 2024 last January 24, Quiboloy called the former workers, who testified about the alleged abuses they suffered at the hands of Duterte’s close friend and spiritual adviser as “bogus witnesses.”
(el Amigo/MNM)
