Quibolo cited in contempt for snubbing Senate hearings

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SENATE deputy minority leader Risa Hontiveros yesterday cited Pastor Apollo Quiboloy in contempt and asked Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri to order the arrest of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ church leader for being a no-show in Senate hearings.

Despite two invitations and a subpoena approved by the Senate leadership that were issued by the Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations, and Gender Equality, Quiboloy continued to snub the committee hearing investigating the reported abuses of the KJOC leader on his former members.

The panel held its fourth hearing on the alleged abuses and other issues on Quiboloy yesterday.

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“Pursuant to Section 18 of the Rules of the Senate, as chair of the Committee, with the concurrence of one member here with me, I cite in contempt Apollo Carreon Quiboloy for his refusal to be sworn or to testify before this investigation. This committee requests the Senate President to order his arrest so that he may be brought to testify,” Hontiveros said during the hearing.

Sen. Robin Padilla, the lone committee member who attended the hearing, objected to the panel chair’s ruling.

“Please excuse me, but I object to the decision to cite Quiboloy in contempt, with all due respect,” Padilla said in Filipino.

Padilla, during the third committee hearing, defended Quiboloy from all the accusations of the former KJOC members, saying he has known the church leader since the time of President Gloria Arroyo and has never asked for money from him “not even once,” contrary to complaints the KJOC leader compelled his members to beg on the streets in the guise of fake foundations in a bid to earn money for the organization.

Hontiveros said a majority of the members of the committee can, within seven days, modify or even reverse the panel chair’s decision.

“We have guidelines in our rules, that’s under Section 18. This is the Rules on Procedures Governing Inquiries in aid of legislation. Section 18, on contempt, says a majority of all members of the committee may reverse or modify — within seven (calendar) days,” she said.

The committee has 14 members, including Hontiveros, as chair; Sen. Nancy Binay, vice chair; and Senators Pia Cayetano, Cynthia Villar, Grace Poe, Imee Marcos, Robin Padilla, Raffy Tulfo, Christopher Go, Joseph Victor Ejercito, and Mark Villar.

The panel’s ex-officio members are Senate president pro tempore Loren Legarda, majority leader Joel Villanueva, and minority leader Aquilino Pimentel III.

Hontiveros, in an interview after the hearing, said: “If they can come up with a majority of the members of the committee who will register an objection, the ruling of the chair citing Quiboloy in contempt can be overturned or modified.”

This means the committee has to have the votes of at least eight of its members to modify or reverse the decision.

Hontiveros called on the committee members to stand up for the rights of the KJOC members who have reportedly been abused by Quiboloy and sustain the ruling.

She clarified the arrest order on Quiboloy has yet to be issued by Zubiri.

Dindo Maquiling, a former KJOC member, said he used to work in a toy store in Canada but opted to resign after super typhoon Yolanda hit the country in 2013 so he could help raise funds so Quiboloy could help the victims.

He said he tapped his connections in Canada to help raise funds.

Maquiling, in a pre-recorded video shown to the committee, said he returned to the Philippines to personally visit the shelters for the victims of Yolanda. He said it was at this point that he learned that most of the victims were children of “miracle workers” who were sent by Quiboloy abroad.

“It was not meant to help the poor,” he said.

He added all the money that he and his contacts in Canada collected was being transferred elsewhere without his knowledge. He recalled there was an instance when he learned that around $60,000 was transferred to a certain Rosalie Magnao “para daw sa jet ni Pastor (for the Pastor’s jet).”

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Looking at the books, Maquiling said the money was sent to different “beneficiaries” and was not given to the children and the needy.

“After that, I started to ask questions, about what was happening to the money being collected. The Canada Revenue is already questioning me about where am I using the money. But I told them that I have no first-hand information,” he said.

In 2019, Maquiling said they sent one million Canadian dollars to the Philippines but Church leaders did not explain how the money was used. It was at this point that he decided to end his relationship with the KJOC.

“Oh my God, this was the afternoon that he (Quiboloy) was arrested in Hawaii. Their ploy is that they will collect money in North America, load them into (the) Pastor’s jet plane to be flown to the Philippines without paying the necessary fees,” he said.

He said Quiboloy tricked people by tapping them to collect money to be allegedly given to charity works but they all ended up for his personal use.

After he bolted the church, Maquiling said he was accused of stealing money from the church, an allegation which he vehemently denied, saying: “How can I steal money? I am not the treasurer. I cannot even sign. How can I steal the money?”

He said Quiboloy has been hitting him on his radio/TV program aired over SMNI Network for three months for what he allegedly did to the church.

“I just kept quiet; I did not reply. He has even wished that my mother die, that my whole family die,” he said.

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