DOJ still reviewing US request to extradite Quiboloy

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Justice (DOJ) is still reviewing the request the United States government to extradite sect leader and alleged sex offender Apollo Quiboloy, Palace press officer Claire Castro said on Tuesday.

Castro last August 11 said President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. would decide on Quiboloy’s fate “in a couple of weeks.”

As of posting time, however, she said the DOJ is still assessing the extradition request.

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READ: Quiboloy’s fate due ‘in a couple of weeks’

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“Sa ngayon ang DOJ ay kasalukuyan pa pong binubusisi, inaaral, ina-asses ang bulto-bultong dokumento na naipasa sa kanila, at hindi pa po sila halos dahil sa napakaraming dapat pag-aaralan,” she said at a Palace briefing.

(For now, the DOJ is still scrutinizing, studying, and assessing the large volume of documents submitted to them, and they have barely made progress because there is so much that needs to be reviewed.)

Among the issues the DOJ is looking into is whether the principle of double criminality applies or whether the charges Quiboloy will face in the US are also considered offenses punishable under Philippine law.

“So, hintayin po natin kung ito ay… kung kailan matatapos, pero alam nila na ito ay agaran na dapat magkaroon ng desisyon. So, medyo makapal lang daw po at bulto ang mga dokumentong kanilang binabasa sa ngayon,” Castro said.

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(So, let’s wait and see when they will finish, but they know that a decision needs to be made urgently. It’s just that, according to them, the documents they are reviewing at the moment are quite voluminous.)

READ: DOJ to study US request for Quiboloy extradition

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The DOJ previously said the matter would be “given priority” and carefully scrutinized to make sure the circumstances in Quiboloy’s criminal cases pending in two local courts are factored in.

Quiboloy faces qualified human trafficking charges at the Pasig Regional Trial Court (RTC) and a separate case for sexual abuse and maltreatment before the Quezon City RTC. /gsg