Rights groups ask Filipinos to reject ex-Pres Duterte and detained preacher in upcoming elections

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Human rights activists called on Filipino voters Wednesday to reject former President Rodrigo Duterte and detained televangelist Apollo Quiboloy in next year’s mid-term elections, citing the criminal allegations they’re facing.

Duterte registered Monday to run for mayor in the southern city of Davao. While in office, he oversaw anti-drugs crackdowns that left thousands of mostly poor suspect dead in killings, which the International Criminal Court has been investigating as a possible crime against humanity.

Quiboloy, the former president’s spiritual adviser and close political ally, has been detained on allegations of sexual abuse and human trafficking in the Philippines, and is on the FBI’s most-wanted list for similar charges in the United States. He filed candidacy papers for a seat in the 24-member Senate through a lawyer Tuesday.

Duterte and Quiboloy, who have backed each other for years, have separately denied any wrongdoing.

Under Philippine law, candidates facing criminal charges, including those in detention, can run for office unless they have been convicted of a crime by a Philippine court and exhausted all of their appeals.

Human Rights Watch said Duterte, now 79, can not evade justice in or out of government office.

“The thousands of victims of his brutal regime both across the Philippines and in Davao, where he had been mayor for a long time, will continue to demand accountability,” Caloy Conde, the Philippines-based Human Rights Watch campaigner, said and asked Filipino voters to reject him.

“He has too much blood on his hands,” Conde said.

Sen. Risa Hontiveros, who is leading a public investigation of the child sexual abuse and human trafficking allegations against Quiboloy,