Comelec Upholds Apollo Quiboloy’s Right to Run for Senate

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has firmly rejected a motion to block the senatorial candidacy of Apollo Quiboloy, the detained leader of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ, who faces allegations of child abuse. The decision was detailed in a seven-page ruling released to the public on Friday. The motion for reconsideration, filed by labor leader Sonny Matula, was dismissed by the Comelec en banc for lacking merit. The Comelec stated that the motion did not present any compelling reason to overturn the decision made by its First Division. The ruling emphasized that the arguments presented by Matula had been thoroughly reviewed and decisively addressed by the Commission. The en banc also pointed out that the First Division had already dealt with both the procedural and substantive issues when it approved Quiboloy’s candidacy. The decision highlighted that combining various remedies and requests in a petition to declare someone a nuisance candidate or to disqualify them or cancel their certificate of candidacy is a basis for immediate dismissal, as clearly stipulated by the rules. Furthermore, the Comelec stressed that even if procedural errors in the petition were ignored, the substantive matters had been extensively discussed and resolved by the First Division.