The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has dismissed the petition seeking to disqualify arrested pastor Apollo Quiboloy from the 2025 senatorial elections.
In the decision of the Comelec First Division dated December 18, it was stated that the petitioner’s presented evidence was insufficient and did not convince the division to declare the respondent as a nuisance candidate in the upcoming elections.
This resolution from the poll body was signed by Comelec commissioners Socorro Inting, Aimee Ferolino, and Ernesto Ferdinand Maceda Jr.
It can be recalled that labor leader Sonny Matula filed the petition to disqualify Quiboloy due to alleged “material misrepresentation.”
Matula claimed that Quiboloy’s nomination from the Workers’ and Peasants’ Party (WPP) lacked legitimate and legal basis.
At the time, Quiboloy included in his certificate of nomination and acceptance (CONA) the signature of a certain Mark Tolentino. However, Matula argued that Tolentino was neither an authorized representative nor a member of the WPP.
According to Comelec, the petitioners did not comply with procedural rules because their petition to declare Quiboloy a nuisance candidate included additional grounds and remedies. The poll body also stated that Matula’s petition lacked valid grounds and was devoid of “factual” and “legal evidence.”
“The Petitioner maintained that Respondent’s submission of an unauthorized CONA was a violation of WPP’s and this Commission’s rules, and that it was a clear ground for the cancellation of his COC. We do not agree,” the Comelec decision stated.
“It could be determined that the argument relied upon by the Petitioner is patently erroneous. When the Commission denies due course to or cancels a candidate’s COC, this is due to a finding that the candidate made a material misrepresentation in his or her COC which is false… Clearly, membership or nomination by political party is not among the qualifications for the position of Senator. Thus, the submission of a CONA that was signed by unauthorized individual is not equivalent to material misrepresentation that will affect the Respondent’s eligibility,” the poll body explained further.
On October 21, Quiboloy’s camp announced that he would instead run as an independent candidate in the 2025 elections.
“Given the ongoing intra-party dispute, I am revoking my acceptance as a nominee of WPP. I am therefore running as an independent candidate for senator in the 2025 NLE,” part of the pastor’s statement read.
Quiboloy was arrested in September 2024 after months of evading authorities.
He is facing cases of sexual abuse of a minor, child abuse, and qualified trafficking in two separate courts in the Philippines. In addition, he has been on the Most-Wanted list of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in the United States since 2022 for child sex trafficking and promotional money laundering.
