Apollo Quiboloy
For the first time, Catholic Church leaders have called on religious televangelist Apollo Quiboloy, founder of the Davao City-based Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KOJC) sect, to submit himself to an investigation in Congress to answer “deeply troubling” allegations against him, including sexual abuse and trafficking.
Caritas Philippines, the humanitarian, development and advocacy arm of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, also urged the Senate and the House of Representatives to assert their authority to ensure justice for the alleged victims.
“The allegations against Mr. Quiboloy and the KOJC are deeply troubling,” Caritas Philippines president Bishop Jose Colin Bagaforo said in a statement on Monday.
“Human trafficking, sexual abuse, and other criminal activities, if proven true, represent a grave violation of human rights and fundamental dignity, especially impacting women, children, and other vulnerable individuals,” he added.
Justice for victims
Bagaforo, also the bishop of the Diocese of Kidapawan in Mindanao, said Quiboloy needed to submit himself to Congress and other legal authorities “not just for the sake of transparency, but for the victims who deserve justice.”
The Senate, he said, must “assert its authority and ensure a thorough and impartial investigation into these allegations.”
It was the first time for a prominent Catholic group to address the claims against Quiboloy, the spiritual adviser of former President Rodrigo Duterte.
READ: House panel subpoenas Quiboloy after repeated snub of hearings
Caritas Philippines represents the country in Caritas Internationalis, a global confederation of 165 member countries based in the Vatican.
Bagaforo also expressed solidarity with the alleged victims and survivors and urged authorities to provide them with support and protection.
The Senate and the House are each conducting committee-level inquiries into alleged abuses by the KOJC leader and franchise violations of his broadcast network, Sonshine Media Network International (SMNI).
Offering body to God
The Senate committee on women, children, family relations and gender equality led by Sen. Risa Hontiveros began its inquiry last month, during which two Ukrainians and a Filipino woman claimed Quiboloy sexually abused them as an act of “offering their body to God.”
Quiboloy declined the invitation to attend and dared Hontiveros to help his accusers file criminal cases against him.
He said the allegations were part of a “smear campaign” to destroy his “international reputation.”
Last week, the House legislative franchises committee issued a subpoena compelling the KOJC founder to appear in a separate inquiry into the alleged violations of SMNI.
Quiboloy is wanted by the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation for a string of criminal offenses.
On Nov. 10, 2021, a federal warrant was issued for his arrest after a grand jury in the US District Court for the Central District of California indicted him for conspiracy to engage in sex trafficking by force, fraud and coercion and sex trafficking of children; sex trafficking by force, fraud and coercion; conspiracy; and bulk cash smuggling. —WITH A REPORT FROM INQUIRER RESEARCH INQ