THERE is a high possibility that the government will seize the properties of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ.
This is despite these properties not being part of the fabricated accusations hurled against Pastor Apollo C. Quiboloy.
In a press conference in Davao City, KOJC legal counsel Atty. Israelito Torreon explained how this could happen by incorporating an anti-money laundering provision into a previously dismissed case against Pastor Apollo.
‘’So how does this case, which was originally a rape case, suddenly pertain to anti-money laundering? With the provision on criminal forfeiture order, which states that the prosecution will proceed against the subject of the crime, the fruits or any property used as a means of committing the crime, and all the assets and properties of the accused, either personally owned by him or held by him or in the name of another person, if the same shall be found to be manifestly disproportionate to their lawful income,’’ Atty. Israelito Torreon Legal Counsel of Pastor Apollo C. Quiboloy said.
Should this proceed, Atty. Torreon foresees the issuance of an Asset Protection Order (APO).
What is the impact of an APO?
‘’So what does this mean? This means that the prosecution may later move for an APO or Asset Protection Order so that the prosecution will be empowered to identify any of the properties and request the Court to issue an order to seize the property. If this includes the Kingdome, which is owned by Pastor Apollo, and they provide evidence, it is not even in Pastor’s name but in the name of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ, which enjoys a distinct and separate personality from Pastor Apollo C. Quiboloy,’’ Atty. Israelito Torreon added.
In protest against the looming government action, onstant vigilance is now being upheld over the church’s properties.
These properties are funded by the blood, sweat, and tears of each member and worker of the KOJC, led by Pastor Apollo.
‘’So there is really this danger that the properties of the Kingdom may be subject to criminal forfeiture orders later on, in light of the physiology of the information filed before RTC Branch 159, Pasig City,’’ Torreon said.
With that, KOJC members all around the globe assert that the state has no right to the church’s properties, given that the KOJC did not use a single cent of government funds for its establishment.
‘’First, let me address their plan to seize the Kingdom properties. The Kingdom Nation and Pastor Quiboloy have not stolen a single cent from you. You, in the government, are the thieves. Not a single cent was stolen by the Kingdom Nation or Pastor Apollo C. Quiboloy from you, and now you want to take the Kingdom properties. We invested blood, sweat, and tears here for the Kingdom properties, worldwide, and because of your evil and envious eyes, you want to take them from us. That is not acceptable,’’ Bro. Carlo Catiil KOJC Minister said.
Meanwhile, aside from the long-dismissed cases of Pastor Apollo at the Davao Regional Trial Court, his legal team criticized the transfer of jurisdiction over the case.
Atty. Torreon stated that aside from the revived case and the looming property forfeiture, the hearings were transferred to Pasig and Quezon City RTC.
‘’And what they did was split the case into two. If you read the resolution of the Department of Justice, the penalty made portion thereof. The Department of Justice actually ordered the City Prosecution of Davao to file the appropriate information, singular, in court. So, the City Prosecution of Davao is directed to file information in court in Pasig, and all law students know that the City Prosecutor of Davao cannot file an information in Pasig because the City Prosecutor in Davao has no jurisdiction over crimes committed in Pasig,’’ Atty. Israelito Torreon added.
Torreon is currently the dean of JMCFI College of Law.
And the study of the jurisdiction of cases is basic for law students.
‘’The preliminary investigation, if a crime was committed in Pasig, should have been conducted in Pasig. That is basic. That’s criminal procedure in the first year of law school, which is why the law is being disregarded here,’’ he said.
For now, all legal proceedings for Pastor Apollo’s cases are still ongoing in court.
What is clear is that no final decision has been made yet regarding the charges against him.
