PASTOR Apollo Quiboloy, founder of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KOJC), ranks highest among Senate bets Filipinos say they will not vote for in the 2025 senate elections, according to the September 2024 national survey of non-partisan public opinion firm WR Numero (See Figure 1). In the same survey, 68% of Filipinos also support the government’s use of full force of the law in arresting Pastor Quiboloy (See Figure 4).
The latest Philippine Public Opinion Monitor found that 21% of Filipinos identified Quiboloy as a Senate candidate they will definitely not vote for. Former Senator Leila de Lima is a far second at 10%, followed by Davao City Mayor Baste Duterte (7%) (See Figure 1).
Among those confirmed to be running for Senate, Senator Imee Marcos ranked fifth on the “surely not vote” list, with 6%. Former Senator Manny Pacquiao and Senator Bong Revilla were ranked ninth and 10th, respectively, with 5% each among candidates Filipinos say they certainly will not vote for.
Quiboloy topped the list across all regions, the highest of which is Mindanao. One in four Mindanaoans (25%) said that they won’t vote for the pastor. This is followed by Visayas (23%), Metro Manila (22%), South Luzon (21%), and North-Central Luzon (16%) (See Figure 2).
Across all age groups, the pastor topped the list of candidates Filipinos will surely not vote for, with those 30 and below expressing the highest rejection at 27% (See Figure 3).
Quiboloy’s ranking comes amid controversies involving allegations of human trafficking and sexual abuse. The Opinion Monitor, which ran from September 5 to 23, found that nearly 7 in 10 Filipinos agree that the government should utilize the full force of the law in arresting Pastor Quiboloy (See Figure 4).
Metro Manila and Visayas expressed the highest agreement of the use of maximum law enforcement to arrest the pastor, with 79% and 74%, respectively. This is followed by Rest of Luzon at 66%, and Mindanao at 61% (See Figure 4).
A great majority of Filipinos across all partisanship categories also shared the same sentiment, with Administration supporters at 73% and 63% among Oppositions.
Quiboloy was arrested on September 8 in Davao City after a two-week standoff with the police.
This nationally representative face-to-face survey was conducted from September 5 to 23, 2024, with a sample of 1,729 adults aged 18 and older. The nationwide survey has a margin of error of ± 2% at a 95% confidence level. At the subnational level, the margin of error is ± 6% for the National Capital Region, ± 5% for North and Central Luzon, ± 5% for South Luzon, ± 6% for Visayas, and ± 5% for Mindanao, all at the same 95% confidence level.
