Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KOJC) leader Apollo Quiboloy arrived at the Senate Wednesday morning to make his first public appearance in the congressional inquiry that looks into allegations of abuse against him and his church.
Senate Deputy Minority Leader Risa Hontiveros is leading the investigation under her Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations and Gender Equality.
Also present are Quiboloy’s co-accused in the human trafficking case namely Sylvia Cemañes, Jackielyn Roy, Cresente, Paulene and Ingrid Canada. They were escorted by Philippine National Police (PNP) personnel.
Arlene Stone, a former KOJC member based in the US, likewise joined the hearing via video conference, according to the committee secretariat.
Other victim-survivors also came forward to speak about the allegations against the pastor and his organization, including Teresita Valdehueza and Ukrainian Yulya Tartova, among others.
Hontiveros acknowledged the significance of the presence of all the KOJC personalities, who finally made it to the Senate hearing despite the inclement weather in Metro Manila due to tropical storm ‘Kristine.’
“Why did we push (this investigation)? We pushed because of the stories of young girls that we heard were being groomed in to what he (Quiboloy) called ‘pastorals’ and forced to provide sexual services to this so-called ‘Son of God,” she said in her opening statement.
PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) Director Brigadier General Nicolas Torre III, who led the search operations and eventual arrest of Quiboloy and his cohorts was likewise invited in the hearing, along with police officers Hansel Marantan and Gene Licud.
Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo was also there to state the position of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) with respect to the possible extradition of Quiboloy to the United States, where he is also facing several cases.
“As of this date, the Department of Foreign Affairs has not received a formal extradition request from the United States,” Manalo said.
He also mentioned that the DFA did not receive requests for assistance from any of the victims in the US in relation to the human trafficking charges leveled against Quiboloy or the KOJC.
Editor’s Note: This article has been updated. An information referring to Arlene Stone as the one who recently struck a plea bargain agreement with the US government has been corrected. It was not Ms. Stone. It was Marissa Duenas, who was not in the Senate hearing.
