Quiboloy to face disqualification case on his Senate bid

Detained Pastor Apollo Quiboloy

MANILA, Philippines — Detained Pastor Apollo Quiboloy’s senatorial bid will be challenged by another aspirant over an alleged misrepresentation of his political party.

The contention stems from Quiboloy’s certificate of candidacy (COC) showing he is running under the Workers and Peasants Party (WPP).

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) earlier bared that there are two WPP wings: one led by Sonny Matula and the other one with Mark Tolentino on its helm.

Matula said they were unaware of Quiboloy’s senatorial bid under the WPP, while Tolentino is backing the Kingdom of Jesus Christ founder’s run.

READ: From jail, Quiboloy joins Senate race

Matula also announced that the WPP wing under him would file a petition on Wednesday to cancel the certificate of nomination and acceptance (Cona) of Quiboloy’s party.

“We are preparing to file a petition for cancellation of Cona with a prayer for disqualification of his senatorial candidacy for material misrepresentation,” Matula told INQUIRER.net over the phone on Tuesday.

The Comelec previously said that Quiboloy could still run as an independent candidate even after the cancellation of his party’s Cona, which Matula recognized.

“That is one of their options, but our argument is, there is a ground for disqualification because of material misrepresentation on his COC,” Matula explained.

READ: Quiboloy’s party issue not enough to block his Senate bid – Comelec

Tolentino, however, maintained that there is no material misrepresentation on Quiboloy’s part.

“What material misrepresentation? Baka mapahiya siya sa pinagsasabi niya (He might lose face with his claims),” Tolentino told INQUIRER.net in a Viber message on Tuesday when asked to comment on Matula’s accusations.

“We will respond to that based on law and Comelec rules,” he added.

Tolentino filed Quiboloy’s COC on his behalf as the latter was detained in the Philippine National Police custodial center since September over accusations of human trafficking and child abuse, which his camp vehemently denied.