Bato advises Quiboloy to ‘face the music’

Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, on Saturday, advised Kingdom of Jesus Christ leader Apollo Quiboloy to “face the music” and surrender to authorities.

“Wala naman tayong ma-advice [kung hindi] harapin nya kung kinahaharap nyang kaso and let the wheels of justice roll. Mayroon tayong hustisya. Sana harapin niya para matapos na ‘yung gulo na yan,” said dela Rosa in a radio interview.

(I have no other advice except to face his cases and let the wheels of justice turn. We have justice. Hopefully, he faces this so that this mess can be resolved.)

According to dela Rosa, he was unable to talk to Quiboloy but warned that he could not evade the law any longer considering his active warrant.

“He has no choice… Harapin nya yan. Nandiyan yan, nakafile na kaso na yan. Otherwise, kung ayaw nya harapin, magtago sya ng pinaka-secure lugar na di siya makita. You cannot evade the long arm of the law. Hahanapin ka talaga, lalo na may standing warrant of arrest,” he said.

(He has no choice… He has to face it. It’s already there, the case has already been filed. Otherwise, if he doesn’t want to face it, he should hide in the most secure place where no one can find him. You cannot evade the long arm of the law. They will look for you, especially since you have a standing warrant of arrest.)

The senator also rejected the notion that former President Rodrigo Duterte may be hiding the wanted pastor, and this was something nobody should have assumed.

“You cannot expect pagkakanlong coming from a former president, a lawyer at that, and dating fiscal. Alam nya yan na violation of law yan. ‘Wag na gawan gawan ng storya kinakanlong ni Pangulong Duterte [dahil] alam ni Pangulong Duterte ang batas [at] di yan mangyayari,” he said.

(You cannot expect a former president would be harboring him. He is a lawyer at that and a former fiscal. He knows that is a violation of the law. Don’t concoct any more stories about President Duterte harboring a fugitive because President Duterte knows the law and that will never happen.)

He also advised whoever was helping Quiboloy hide to give up as they were violating Philippine law for harboring a wanted fugitive.

“Gawin nila nararapat sa batas. Yung sa warrant, chargeable talaga yan sa mga taong nagkakanlong sa kanya. ’Yung sa Senado, titingnan natin yan ano magiging action ng OSAA kung makita nila may ganong ginagawa yung ibang tao. Tingnan natin kung kailangan na magfile ng ganong kaso,” dela Rosa said.

(They should do what is right with the law. With the warrant, those people hiding him are chargeable. With the Senate, we’ll see what the actions of the OSAA would be if they see what the other people are doing. We’ll see if there’s a need to file that type of case.)

The Davao Regional Trial Court issued a warrant of arrest against Quiboloy and five others on Wednesday.

Two of his co-accused surrendered to the National Bureau of Investigation on Thursday, and all five have posted bail, except Quiboloy who remains at large.

Quiboloy faces charges of child abuse, sexual abuse, and failure to appear at Senate hearings. He has active warrants of arrest from the Davao court, the Senate, and in California. — DVM, GMA Integrated News