A SENATE committee investigating claims of abuses against followers of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ ordered the arrest of Pastor Apollo Quiboloy for repeatedly not attending hearings.
“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,” Senate committee on women, children, family relations, and gender equality chairperson Risa Hontiveros said during the resumption of the inquiry.
”This committee requests the Senate President to order his arrest so that he may be brought to testify,” she added.
Quiboloy was served with a subpoena to appear before the investigation into the alleged incidents of child abuse, rape, sexual assault, and large-scale human trafficking within KJC, which he established.
The pastor countered that the subpoena’s issuance went against his constitutional rights against being forced to testify against himself and the presumption of innocence unless proven guilty by the courts.
According to Hontiveros, the Supreme Court has already affirmed the Senate’s authority to conduct investigations and hold resource persons accountable for contempt while upholding the right of witnesses to due process.
”If we allow witnesses of the Senate to simply claim that appearing before a committee would violate his or her constitutional right to be presumed innocent and his or her right against self-incrimination, wala na pong kapangyarihan ang ating Senado maglunsad ng mga imbestigasyon,” Hontiveros said.
”Hindi po uubra ang ganitong mga excuse.”
Quiboloy, according to the US Federal Bureau of Investigation, was indicted in 2021 by US prosecutors, who alleged, among other things, that girls and young women were coerced to have sex with him under threats of “eternal damnation”.
In a voice clip posted to the YouTube channel of his television network Sonshine Media last month, Quiboloy announced he was in hiding because he was afraid he would be subjected to “kidnapping or assassination” by the US and Philippine governments.
