By Benjamin Pulta
MANILA – (PNA) The Department of Justice (DOJ) on Thursday said it will take no shortcuts and will closely scrutinize the formal request from the United States to extradite Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KOJC) leader Apollo Quiboloy.
In a press conference, Chief State Counsel Dennis Chan confirmed that the DOJ received the formal request from the U.S., saying it is now being processed to ensure compliance with legal requirements for extradition.
“We are reviewing the submission made by the United States government to ensure its compliance with the Philippine-US extradition treaty and the Philippine extradition law. So under the Philippine extradition law and the extradition treaty with the United States, we have to ensure the presence of several key elements,” Chan said.
He said the DOJ must first verify if the offenses mentioned by the U.S. in the formal request, such as sex trafficking of children, visa fraud and cash smuggling, are extraditable under the treaty guidelines.
“But so long as the act involved is the same, then it is considered an extraditable offense,” he said. “We have to also ensure and validate that the imprisonment that these respondents will face if and when convicted in the United States is at least one year and up.”
Chan said under the Philippines-U.S. extradition treaty, the requesting state “has the option of whether to proceed with the filing of the petition for extradition and then let it play out in court or to defer any action on filing the petition and wait for the local cases to reach their conclusion.”
“We are working on the evaluation as fast as we can, at the same time ensuring that we are not skipping or cutting corners here. We have to make sure that everything is compliant with the Philippine extradition law as well as the extradition treaty with the United States,” he said.
He said no timeline has been set but “we will just try to hasten our action on this because I know that the public is keenly and closely monitoring the development.”
Chan said adhering to the extradition treaty “goes a long way in enhancing the Philippines’ image in the international community.”
“We have to also show to our treaty partners that we are serious in complying with our treaty obligations and that we understand the need for justice to be served, but at the same time we have to balance it also with the interest ng Philippines,” he said. (PNA)
