Anakbayan-Southern Mindanao Region (SMR) expressed dismay over the Commission on Elections (Comelec) decision to allow criminal and Duterte ally Apollo Quiboloy to run for senator in the 2025 elections. The Comelec en banc upheld the previous decision of its First Division to allow Quiboloy to run. The resolution was published on December 27.

For Anakbayan-SMR, this decision by the Comelec further exposes the rotten system in the country that continues to oppress and exploit Filipinos. “This Comelec decision is not surprising but it is a form of injustice for the victims of abuse at the hands of Quiboloy,” said Fauzhea Guiani, the group’s chairperson.

According to the Comelec, the petitioner, Workers and Peasants’ Party (WPP) senatorial candidate and Federation of Free Workers (FFW) leader Atty. Sonny Matula, failed to provide sufficient evidence to cancel Quiboloy’s candidacy.

In the October petition, Matula sought to disqualify Quiboloy for misrepresenting himself as a WPP candidate. He said the individual who signed Quiboloy’s nomination document was not a legitimate official of their party. Quiboloy subsequently declared to run as an independent and the Comelec affirmed his candidacy.

In the motion for reconsideration, Attorney Matula denounced Quiboloy’s candidacy for “mocking the electoral process” and “exposing the glaring disparity” in the treatment of candidates. He said Quiboloy is facing numerous legal cases, including child sex trafficking, yet he was allowed to run, while a WPP candidate, a known Moro leader, was declared a “nuisance.”

Anakbayan-SMR’s Guiani said that permitting Quiboloy to run is a “manifestation of the existing rotten system… that keeps corrupt, oppressive, and criminal politicians like Quiboloy and his allies, the capitalist bureaucrats and landlords, in power, continuously deceiving the people.” Quiboloy is a close friend and supporter of the Duterte family and is accused of land grabbing in Southern Mindanao. He also has cases of killing farmers and Lumad and other human rights violations in the region.

Guiani called on her fellow youth to continue to protest this Comelec decision and the overall rotten electoral system in the country. “As long as this rotten system persists, justice and fairness for the victims will remain elusive unless the people fight to change it. So stand up for our rights and join the national democratic struggle!”