Quiboloy asks Comelec to tag him as independent bet in 2025 polls

Apollo Quiboloy has asks the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to declare him an independent candidate in the May 2025 midterm polls. INQUIRER FILES

MANILA, Philippines — Apollo Quiboloy has asked the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to declare him an independent candidate in the May 2025 midterm polls.

On Monday, his legal counsel, Mark Tolentino, went to the Comelec headquarters at Palacio del Gobernador in Manila to file Quiboloy’s personal letter requesting to declare him as such.

The jailed Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KJC) founder filed his certificate of candidacy (COC) for senator through an authorized representative under the Tolentino wing of the Workers Party of the Philippines (WPP).

READ: From jail, Quiboloy joins Senate race

But this triggered a controversy as the other faction of WPP led by Sonny Matula, who also filed his COC for senator, questioned Quiboloy’s application.

“Given the intra-party dispute, I am revoking my acceptance as a nominee of Workers’ and Peasants’ Party,” Quiboloy said in a letter dated Oct. 21.

“I am therefore running as an Independent Candidate for Senator in the 2023 National and Local Elections.”

The Comelec previously declared that WPP has two “wings”: One led by Matula and the other by Tolentino.

But Matula said they were not aware of Quiboloy’s bid under WPP while Tolentino said they invited the detained sect leader to become their member, which he accepted.

READ: Quiboloy: How did he land on FBI’s most-wanted list?

Matula even filed a petition to declare Quiboloy as a nuisance candidate on grounds of material misrepresentation over the detained KJC founder’s party designation, but the opposite camp shrugged it off and then filed a counter-petition seeking Matula’s disqualification.

The Comelec, however, earlier said that Quiboloy may still run as an independent bet if his part nomination get annulled.

Matula welcomed Quiboloy’s latest move.

“We cannot allow ourselves to be used or hijacked by Pastor Apollo Quiboloy or his advisers as a cover for whatever political schemes they may be pursuing,” Matula told INQUIRER.net.

“I regret that the Quiboloy camp has already caused harm and cast a shadow over our party’s reputation. However, we understand that such bruises are part of the challenges in the electoral struggle,” he continued.

Matula also rejected Quiboloy’s remark that there is an “intra-party dispute” within the WPP despite Comelec’s declaration of it having two factions.

“Any suggestion of an intra-party dispute is unfounded and purely a product of their wild political imagination,” he further said.

Quiboloy is currently detained in the custodial center of the Philippine National Police following his capture in September over human trafficking and child abuse allegations which his camp has vehemently denied.