MANILA — (UPDATED) President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. said that it was the prerogative of Vice President Sara Duterte to apologize to Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KOJC) members for asking them to support his candidacy in the 2022 elections.
 
But the Philippine leader admits that he still does not understand why Duterte would make such a statement.
 
“That's her prerogative. I still don't understand why. That is her wish, wala tayong magagawa,” he said in an interview on Wednesday.
 
Duterte reiterated her apology to thousands of KOJC members during the sect’s 39th founding anniversary in Davao City, where she admitted to mistakenly believing that she and Marcos were “together on the platform of unity and continuity.”

This, after the Philippine National Police launched a massive search operation at the KOJC compound for pastor Apollo Quiboloy, who is facing abuse and trafficking cases in courts in Davao City and in Pasig.
 
“Nagkamali ako kaya hinihingi ko ang patawad ninyo," Duterte explained.
 
Quiboloy, spiritual adviser to former President Rodrigo Duterte, endorsed the UniTeam ticket of Marcos and Duterte in the 2022 elections.
 
Marcos revealed that he has not yet spoken to Duterte since she resigned from his Cabinet as Secretary of the Department of Education and vice chair of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC).
 
“No, none at all. None at all. The last time I spoke to her was when she handed me her resignation. We haven't spoken since,” he said.

(Video courtesy of MPC Pool via Pia Gutierrez, ABS-CBN News)