Senator seeks arrest warrant vs Quiboloy

MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Risa Hontiveros yesterday sought the arrest of Apollo Quiboloy for defying the Senate’s summons to attend the hearing on alleged sexual abuses in Quiboloy’s ministry.

During the Senate women and gender committee’s fourth hearing, Hontiveros cited Quiboloy in contempt and asked Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri to order his arrest.

Quiboloy, a Kingdom of Jesus Christ pastor, is a scammer who duped his former followers to finance his lavish lifestyle, Hontiveros said.

“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, this committee will be powerless in launching investigations,” Hontiveros explained.

“I cite in contempt Apollo 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,” she added.

Quiboloy found an ally in Sen. Robinhood Padilla who opposed the arrest order, citing Section 18 of the Senate rules on inquiries in aid of legislation which states that a “majority of all the members of the Committee may, however, reverse or modify the aforesaid order of contempt within seven days.”

“Please forgive me for opposing your contempt order. With all due respect to the senator, whose work in fighting for her advocacies I admire,” Padilla said without citing reasons for blocking the arrest order.

Padilla is an ally of former president Rodrigo Duterte, whose spiritual adviser is Quiboloy.

Hontiveros allowed Padilla to gather support from other panel members for his objection but appealed to other committee members not to overrule or modify her arrest order.

Other panel members are Senators Nancy Binay (vice chair), Pia Cayetano, Cynthia Villar, Grace Poe, Imee Marcos, Raffy Tulfo, Bong Go, JV Ejercito and Mark Villar.

Senate President Pro Tempore Loren Legarda, Senate Majority Leader Joel Villanueva and Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel III are ex officio members.

Hontiveros ordered Quiboloy’s arrest despite a letter sent by the pastor’s counsels appealing to set aside the subpoena order as they accused Hontiveros of prejudging him guilty.

“The truth about the commission or non-commission of crimes can only be proven before the competent courts and certainly not before the Senate, especially in light of the fact that no less than the chairperson of the committee conducting the hearing already declared the guilt of Pastor Quiboloy,” Quiboloy’s lawyer Melanio Elvis Balayan wrote in his letter to Zubiri.

During the hearing, Hontiveros presented Reynita Fernandez, an overseas Filipino worker in Singapore who testified that she was forced to give up about 90 percent of her earnings to the church.

“I lost my house. I couldn’t pay my mortgage. And I owe a lot. Because there has never been a stop of the giving,” Fernandez said.

Quiboloy’s ministry trafficked members to Singapore to work multiple jobs and raise funds for Quiboloy, she added.

Hontiveros raised the alarm on possible money laundering after Fernandez claimed the ministry remitted bulk of the money to the Philippines through different account holders due to the city-state’s limit on remittances.

Ministry members also raised money for Quiboloy in the guise of a fundraising activity for the elderly, Fernandez said.

Another witness, Canada-based Dindo Maquiling, bared an alleged scheme that used charity group Children’s Joy Foundation to launder money from Canada to Davao to fund Quiboloy’s private jet trips.

Maquiling, who served as the charity group’s executive director, said he was appalled how the group was used to raise funds not for indigent children but to finance Quiboloy’s luxurious living.

“In 2019, I resigned after one million Canadian dollars were sent to the Philippines without explanation. They are deceiving the people into donating money for children when in fact the funds went to fuel the jet he used to travel from Davao to Manila,” he claimed.

The Anti-Money Laundering Council will be invited to the next hearing to look into the money laundering allegations, Hontiveros said.

“If the testimonies of witnesses are to be believed, one thing is clearly emerging from this hearing – Apollo Quiboloy is a scammer,” she said.

Quiboloy is on the US Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Most Wanted List. — Delon Porcalla