The Workers’ and Peasants’ Party (WPP) on Saturday expressed no concern over the Commission on Elections (Comelec) dismissing its petition to disqualify detained televangelist Apollo Quiboloy from running in the 2025 senatorial elections.
In a statement, the WPP said it remained unfazed by the decision, which ruled that Quiboloy was not a nuisance candidate.
“Even before the promulgation of the decision, we had already achieved our primary objective since Mr. Quiboloy voluntarily disassociated himself from the WPP, shortly after realizing that the WPP is no pushover,” the party said.
The WPP highlighted that Quiboloy’s decision to renounce his status as a WPP candidate and declare himself an independent candidate was, in itself, a significant victory for the party.
The burden of defending Quiboloy’s candidacy now rested with Comelec, the party said. They also emphasized that their focus was now on strengthening their organization and they would withhold further comments until they received and reviewed the official copy of the resolution.
“It is important to emphasize that we do not wish to be perceived as ganging up on Mr. Quiboloy,” the WPP added, noting that the government’s prosecutorial arm was already addressing his criminal liabilities related to charges of qualified human trafficking and sexual abuse of children currently being heard in various courts.
The party added that it sought a fair resolution to the issue and did not wish to unduly create sympathy votes for Quiboloy by portraying him as an underdog unfairly targeted.
In its dismissal of the WPP’s petition, the Comelec First Division said there was “a dearth of evidence” to declare Quiboloy a nuisance candidate.
Labor leader Sonny Matula, who filed the petition, accused Quiboloy of “material misrepresentation” and argued that his nomination by the WPP “had no factual and legal basis.” Matula alleged that Quiboloy’s Certificate of Nomination and Acceptance (CONA) was signed by a certain Mark Tolentino, who was neither an officer nor a member of the WPP.
Comelec ruled against the petition, citing procedural violations. “A petition to declare a candidate as a nuisance candidate cannot be combined with other grounds for a separate remedy,” the decision read.
The commission further explained that submitting a CONA signed by an unauthorized individual does not amount to material misrepresentation affecting eligibility. “Membership or nomination by a political party is not among the qualifications for the position of Senator,” the decision added.
Quiboloy’s camp welcomed the decision.
“For Pastor Quiboloy camp, we are happy sa decision ng Comelec. Tuloy na tuloy na po ang pagtakbo ni Pastor ACQ,” said Attorney Mark Tolentino, Quiboloy’s legal counsel, in a statement.
(For Pastor Quiboloy camp, we are happy with the decision of the Comelec. Pastor ACQ’s Senate run will continue.)
“[Regarding] the comment of Matula, no need na to react sa mga sinasabi nila. Naniniwala kami sa decision ng Comelec, taong bayan ang panalo. Mag focus nalang tayo sa campaign. Let the people decide sinu ang karapat dapat pagkatiwalaan ng taong bayan. Per decision ng Comelec, camp ni Pastor ACQ ang nanalo, hindi si Matula,” Tolentino said.
( [Regarding] the comment of Matula, there is no need to react to their statements. We believe in the decision of the Comelec, the Filipino people won. Let’s just focus on the campaign. Let the people decide who deserves the trust of the people. Per the decision of the Comelec, Pastor ACQ’s camp won, not Matula.)
“As I said before, [Matula’s] group is still welcome to join the campaign team of Pastor ACQ,” he added.— DVM/VBL, GMA Integrated News
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