MALACAÑAN PALACE, Manila — If the camp of Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KoJC) founding pastor Apollo Quiboloy hopes for preferential treatment of their leader after he allegedly surrendered to the authorities, Philippine National Police (PNP) officials clarified it will be up to the court to decide how the discredited spiritual adviser of former President Rodrigo ‘Digong’ Duterte should be treated while in detention.

On Monday (September 9, 2024), President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. announced that there will be “no special treatment” for the fugitive Quiboloy, who is facing child abuse and human trafficking charges before the local courts.

Marcos Jr. made the pronouncement on being informed of Quiboloy’s apprehension at the latter’s compound in Davao but the chief executive quickly added that Quiboloy’s rights will be respected as he readies for arraignment on the charges filed against him.

On their successful arrest of the sect leader, arresting PNP personnel revealed that Quiboloy did not actually surrender to the government but was forced to surface because he had already been cornered while inside his hideout by the police who was serving the pastor’s warrant of arrest.

The president’s remark on Quiboloy’s arrest was followed by public clamor on the real circumstances of the fugitive pastor’s capture—whether the pastor surrendered or not. Quiboloy’s camp has been claiming that he surrendered to the military while the PNP said he was arrested on Sunday (September 8) evening.

“I think that’s a legal question. Pero ganito ang iniisip ko eh, hindi siya lilitaw kung hindi namin hinabol ng husto,” Marcos Jr. pointed out to support police reports on the affair.

Accordingly, he said that for an arrest to be tagged as a ‘surrender’, the wanted individual must first have gone before a police station, a prosecutor or any official authority to state that they are surrendering.

“Hindi gan’yan iyong nangyari . . . Ang nangyari napilitan siyang lumabas kasi malapit na ang pulis sa kanya,” he noted.

The President also cited that Quiboloy had presented himself to the authorities in order stop his supporters from making good with the threat that they would take their own lives for him.

“To his credit, he was still displaying a modicum of leadership to his followers,” Marcos Jr. said to conclude.