SENATE deputy minority leader Risa Hontiveros yesterday called on Pastor Apollo Quiboloy to answer accusations that he allegedly forcibly took the salaries of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who are members of his Kingdom of Jesus Christ.
In a statement, Hontiveros said in a mix of Filipino and English: “We call our OFWs (as) our modern-day heroes, yet we fail to protect them from fraudsters like Quiboloy. I hope that the Senate will unite to give justice to Fernandez and the other OFWs.”
Hontiveros made the statement following the disclosure of Reynita Fernandez, an OFW based in Singapore, during the hearing of the Committee on Women last March 5 that Quiboloy allegedly pressured and harassed her and other domestic workers to give 90 percent of their salaries to him.
During the hearing, Fernandez said she was not able to construct their house as a big chunk of her salary went to the pastor.
Hontiveros, during the same hearing, cited Quiboloy for contempt for snubbing the committee’s subpoena and asked the Senate leadership to order his immediate arrest.
Sen. Juan Edgardo Angara, in a radio interview last Saturday, urged the religious leader to attend the hearings and just invoke his rights against self-incrimination since cases have already been filed against him by the Department of Justice in connection with his alleged abuses to former church members.
Hontiveros said the “invocation of the right against self-incrimination” should be made by a witness who is physically present and on a per question basis.
“This has been settled by the Supreme Court. Sa madaling salita, kailangan niya pa rin magpakita sa Senado. Ang bibigat ng mga paratang sa kanya pero hindi pa rin siya nagpapakita (This has been settled by the Supreme Court. He still needs to show up at the Senate). Why is he hiding? Why is he so afraid? Takot ba siyang hindi madepensahan nang maayos ang mga inaakusa sa kanya? (Is he afraid because he cannot refute the allegations?)” she said.
Sen. Robin Padilla has objected to Quiboloy’s arrest, saying it is best to let the courts decide whether the KOJC leader is guilty of the accusations or not.
Padilla said he does not believe the accusations against the KOJC leader whom he looks up to as a “hero” for fighting the communists.
Aside from Padilla, Senators Imee Marcos, Cynthia Villar, and Christopher Go have affixed their signatures on the Reversal of the Contempt Citation on Quiboloy, which Padilla has asked his colleagues to sign. Sen. Joseph Victor Ejercito earlier signed the document but withdrew it a few hours later, saying there are “strong precedents indicating that ongoing cases can still be heard in the Senate.”
The committee needs the vote of at least eight of the 14 members to either reverse or modify the contempt order on Quiboloy. So far, only four committee members have signed the opposition.
