SENATE deputy minority leader Risa Hontiveros yesterday said the Committee on Women will cite Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KJOC) leader Pastor Apollo Quiboloy in contempt and order his arrest if he snubs anew the hearing scheduled on March 5 on allegations that he abused former members of his religious group.
Hontiveros, committee chairperson, said Quiboloy should honor the subpoena issued by the panel and signed by Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri by physically attending the hearing before he can request to testify virtually or make other pleas for the panel’s consideration.
“Paninindigan ng komite ‘yung subpoena kahit nagtatago siya. Ise-serve ‘yung subpoena sa kanyang known address. Mare-receive ‘yan. So ibig sabihin, makararating sa kanya. And by now, alam niya na sina-subpoena siya ng Senado (The committee will stand by the subpoena even if he is hiding. It will be served at his known address. It will be received, so that means it will reach him. And by now, he knows that he is being subpoenaed by the Senate),” she said.
Quiboloy has snubbed the past three hearings of the committee, which is looking into the alleged abuses he committed on his former church members, ranging from human trafficking, to making women as his sex slaves, to physically punishing them for violating church rules.
The pastor, a self-proclaimed “son of God,” has previously said he will never attend the Senate hearings.
In an audio recording uploaded on social media pages ono Wednesday, Quiboloy he has gone into hiding after he allegedly got reliable information that US government agencies such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Central Intelligence Agency, among others, are out to “eliminate” him through the process of “rendition” in relation to the cases he is facing before a US court.
Quiboloy is facing charges of conspiracy to engage in sex trafficking by force, coercion and sex trafficking of children, marriage fraud, fraud, and misuse of visas, promotional money laundering, and international promotional money laundering. His trial is set on November 5, 2024.
The pastor alleged the US government is supposedly conspiring with President Marcos Jr. and First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos to carry out the plot to kill him.
He also said that a bounty was offered for his head amounting to $2 million or roughly around P100 million.
Hontiveros said the KJOC pastor should testify in the flesh and respond to the allegations before the committee can entertain any possible request that he attend the hearings via video conference.
“Magpakita muna siya ng kahandaan i-honor ‘yung subpoena at humarap. Mag-appear sa komite bago siya sumubok na humingi ng ganito o ganyang arrangement sa pagharap niya sa komite (He should honor the subpoena and physically attend the hearing first before he can try to bargain for any arrangement in future hearings),” she said.
Hontiveros has earlier said that Quiboloy should stop playing “victim” and make it appear that he is being persecuted, saying that his claims of a supposed kill plot against him was obviously made to justify his non-appearance in past and future committee congressional hearings.
The House of Representatives has also issued a subpoena against Quiboloy compelling him to attend the committee hearings of the lower house on the proposal to revoke the legislative franchise of the pastor’s Sonshine Media Network Inc. (SMNI).
The PNP yesterday denied Quiboloy’s claim that it was part of a supposed conspiracy to raid his property and eliminate him.
In a press briefing at Camp Aguinaldo, PNP spokeswoman Col. Jean Fajardo also said the PNP does not have any information about an alleged threat on the life of the KJOC leader. — With Victor Reyes
