Religious group offers Philippine president-elect jet, helicopter

A religious group has offered a private jet and helicopter belonging to its leader to Philippines president-elect Rodrigo Duterte, officials said on Monday.

The leader of the group, Kingdom of Jesus Christ the Name Above Every Name, Apollo Quiboloy said he is even willing to pay for the fuel of the jet Cessna Citation Sovereign Plus and Bell 429 helicopter without any favours in return, the state-run Philstar reported.

Quiboloy, 66, who founded the group in September 1985 in Davao, and Duterte have been close friends for more than three decades in Davao city in Mindanao, where Duterte became mayor and developed the reputation of a ruthless politician who fought a direct and "relentless" war against crime.

Although Duterte used Quiboloy's jet and helicopter during his election campaign, after he assumes office on June 30, he will have at his disposal all the aircraft of the 250th Presidential Airlift Wing of the Philippine Air Force, located at Villamor airbase in Manila.

The religious congregation has about 6 million members and they believe that if Jesus was the saviour of the Jews, then Quiboloy is the saviour of the non-Jews.

--IANS

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