Quiboloy defense in aid of reelection?

It is hardly surprising but still disappointing that some senators are blocking efforts to compel Apollo Quiboloy, the controversial leader of the Davao-based Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KOJC) religious group, to appear in Senate hearings being conducted by a panel headed by Sen. Risa Hontiveros.

The Senate has issued subpoenas on Quiboloy following testimonies of witnesses at the hearing of the Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations, and Gender Equality, which accused the televangelist of serious crimes such as human trafficking and the sexual abuse of women.

On Tuesday, after Quiboloy again failed to show up at the committee hearing, Hontiveros moved to cite him for contempt and asked the Senate to order his arrest so he could be made to testify in the investigation.

But Sen. Robinhood Padilla objected to the motion for contempt and has enlisted senators Imee Marcos, Cynthia Villar, and Christopher Go in the bid to block Quiboloy’s arrest by their own chamber.

‘Political patronage’

Nothing screams “political patronage” louder than this shameful move by known allies of Quiboloy’s friend and protector, former president Rodrigo Duterte. For decades, Duterte and Quiboloy had a symbiotic relationship that enabled them to lord it over their respective enclaves and bar any probe on longstanding claims about abhorrent abuses against those conscripted into the pastor’s service.

The current rift between the camp of President Marcos and the Dutertes has seemingly lifted the mantle of protection long enjoyed by Quiboloy, and has at last paved the way for separate investigations of his activities in the Senate and the House.

Horror stories that have been floated for years about the mysterious and nefarious things at the KOJC were finally heard before a legislative hearing. Witnesses, including three women, testified that they were sexually abused by Quiboloy as a form of religious sacrifice. Other witnesses recalled being beaten, tortured, and detained.

Sex trafficking of women

A landscaper at Quiboloy’s “prayer mountain” also told the committee that he saw Duterte and his daughter, now Vice President, Sara Duterte, taking home guns after their visits to Quiboloy.

Quiboloy is facing similar accusations in the United States, where he and some of his associates were indicted by a federal grand jury in California for “criminal conspiracy” involving the sex trafficking of women and minors; marriage and visa fraud; money laundering, and bulk cash smuggling. KOJC members were said to have been brought to the US on fake visas to solicit donations for a bogus charity. The donations, according to the indictment, are being used to fund KOJC operations and the “lavish lifestyles” of its leaders.

In January 2022, the US Federal Bureau of Investigation included him in its wanted list where “[I]t is alleged that females were recruited to work as personal assistants, or ‘pastorals,’ for Quiboloy, and that [the] victims prepared his meals, cleaned his residences, gave him massages, and were required to have sex with [him] in what the pastorals called ‘night duty.’” On Thursday, the US judge unsealed the warrants against Quiboloy, a step to initiate the extradition process.

‘Appointed son of God’

Pending that, hopes are up that Philippine laws will eventually catch up with him. That is, unless efforts to make him accountable are thwarted by senators courting the support of this man who calls himself the “appointed son of God,” perhaps in aid of reelection? Or is it payback for past favors?

“Huwag naman nating inaapi ‘yung tao (Let us not oppress him),” Sen. Marcos said to her colleagues.

Such a laughable claim that, not surprisingly, Quiboloy’s lawyer has amplified, comparing his client to prophets persecuted. With followers doing his every bid, including “night duty,” Quiboloy does not evoke the image of an oppressed individual.

Fallible mortal

Aside from his undisputed political influence and power over his followers and even politicians, Quiboloy has all the means to mount a formidable legal challenge should he be allowed his day in court. In the US alone, his indictment revealed that his empire has prime assets including real estate properties, among them a million-dollar mansion in Calabasas, California; houses in Las Vegas, Nevada, and in Hawaii; a fleet of luxury cars; a Cessna Citation Sovereign aircraft valued at $18 million, and a Bell 429 helicopter. Such embarrassment of riches—built on solicitation and begging by his followers—hardly qualifies him as an underdog.

Still and all, the right forum for Quiboloy to be held accountable for his alleged crimes is the court. That is why the Department of Justice should stand firm on its decision this week to finally file charges of sexual abuse of a minor and qualified human trafficking against Quiboloy, which the prosecutor in Davao had ignored for years.

For too long, Quiboloy had hoodwinked followers with his claims of divine powers. It’s time to treat him for what he is—a fallible mortal facing accusations of rape and other reprehensible crimes.