Sara Duterte: Dad thinks he, Apollo Quiboloy share same fate

Former President Rodrigo Duterte is on trial before the International Criminal Court on charges of crimes against humanity while his close friend, televangelist Apollo Quiboloy is facing charges of human trafficking in the Philippines and sex trafficking of children and other cases in the United States. — File photos

MANILA, Philippines — Former president Rodrigo Duterte thinks he and alleged sex offender Apollo Quiboloy share the same fate as both of them are in detention, said Vice President Sara Duterte.

Sara made the pronouncement when asked if her father had any reaction to the denial of Quiboloy’s bid for temporary liberty in the qualified trafficking cases against him.

READ: Judge denies Quiboloy bail in qualified trafficking cases

While Sara said her father does not know about Quiboloy’s bail request being denied yet, she mentioned what Rodrigo thinks of him and his close friend being both detained.

“He said he and Pastor Quiboloy have the same fate, the same destiny,” said Sara in a chance interview in The Hague, Netherlands after visiting her father who is currently detained by the International Criminal Court (ICC) due to crimes against humanity.

“Then he said, he wishes ‘we hadn’t become friends; maybe we wouldn’t have ended up in detention,’” she added.

However, Sara said she refuted her father’s viewpoint, telling him that both of their detentions are simply due to “politics.”

“I told him, the lines on your palms have nothing to do with what’s happening now. I said to him, it’s all politics,” she said.

The ICC currently has custody of the elder Duterte after he was arrested and sent to The Hague for crimes against humanity he allegedly committed during his administration’s bloody war against drugs.

READ: War on drugs: The violence, scars, doubts and families it left behind

His infamous war against drugs led to at least 6,000 people dead, with human rights groups reporting at least 20,000.

Meanwhile, televangelist Quiboloy, who founded the religious group Kingdom of Jesus Christ, is currently facing child abuse and human trafficking cases before the Quezon City and Pasig City courts, respectively.

Apart from his cases within the country, Quiboloy is also facing several criminal charges in the United States, including conspiracy to engage in sex trafficking by force, fraud, and coercion, and sex trafficking of children; sex trafficking by force, fraud, and coercion; conspiracy; and bulk cash smuggling. /das