Party disowns Quiboloy nomination for Senate

Metro Manila, Philippines — A political party has disowned signing candidacy papers for the Senate of detained doomsday preacher Apollo Quiboloy.

Quiboloy’s legal counsel Mark Tolentino represented the religious leader in filing the certificate of candidacy and certificate of nomination and acceptance (CONA) for senator under the Workers and Peasants’ Party (WPP) on Tuesday, Oct. 8.

He said Quiboloy will push for religious freedom, helping the poor, and providing quality education.

On the other hand, party president and labor leader Sonny Matula said he was unaware of the CONA signatory.

“Only three individuals are authorized to sign on behalf of WPP: the Chair, the President, and the Senior Vice President,” Matula wrote on X (formerly Twitter). “As President, I can confirm that I did not sign any CONA for Quiboloy.”

Matula said WPP chairperson Ariel Arias and senior vice president Oscar Morado confirmed to him that “they have no knowledge of signing a CONA” for Quiboloy.

In a statement on Wednesday, Matula said an internal investigation is already underway, doubling down that the WPP, “under any circumstances, endorse an individual facing serious allegations including trafficking, money laundering, and sexual abuse of minors, all of which have findings of probable cause.”

“If this document originated from another group, we reject any unauthorized factions that attempt to use our name for their own purposes,” Matula said. “We will be filing for the cancellation of the CONA and pursuing appropriate legal charges against any individuals who have usurped authority to issue such documents without a legal basis.”

The party will be inquiring from the Commission on Elections (Comelec) on the signatory to Quiboloy’s registration papers.

“Since the COC (certificate of candidacy) is executed under oath, failure to declare the truth may subject the aspirant to perjury,” the Comelec said.

It said Quiboloy might also be an independent aspirant if proven that the party had nothing to do with the CONA.

The Comelec said its law department would assess “the authorized signatories in the CONA for each duly registered political parties, checking their authority, jurisdiction or limitations thereto, as well as checking such with the specimen signatures submitted not later than Sept. 30.”

The commision said it would “declare as independent candidates those with CONAs not issued by duly authorized signatories.”

It added it would “file motu proprio cases against nuisance candidates for senators.”

“All these are merely initial reports, as received, and in no way be construed as the final list of candidates,” the Comelec said.

Quiboloy is facing child abuse and qualified human trafficking cases. He is detained at the Philippine National Police headquarters in Quezon City.