Senate inaction on request to subpoena Quiboloy puzzles Hontiveros

Apollo Quiboloy

Sen. Risa Hontiveros called on Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri on Thursday to approve her request to subpoena Apollo Quiboloy, founder and leader of the Davao City-based Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KOJC), who has repeatedly snubbed an ongoing hearing into allegations that he abused some of his followers.

During the Kapihan sa Senado forum, Hontiveros said she sent Zubiri a letter dated Feb. 6, asking him to approve the issuance of a subpoena against the self-proclaimed “Appointed Son of God.”

“As to why it hasn’t been signed until now, I really can’t explain it. You better ask the Senate President himself,” she told reporters, adding that those who testified against the religious leader in a previous hearing had received threats.

The senator’s committee on women, children, family relations and gender equality has been investigating Quiboloy and other KJOC leaders who are being accused of human trafficking, sexual and physical abuse, and child sexual exploitation.

“For the information of the Senate President, Mr. Quiboloy has failed to honor the invitation of the committee in its hearing on Jan. 23, 2024, and the Senate has, under your leadership and the leadership of past Senate Presidents, consistently issued subpoenas against resource persons who fail, without justifiable reason, to attend its inquiries,” Hontiveros said in her letter to Zubiri.

“To further update you, in the days and weeks after the hearing, my office is in receipt of credible evidence of threats on the lives of our first two witnesses and potential witnesses,” she added.

During the Jan. 23 hearing, three former members of Quiboloy’s religious sect, including two Ukrainian women, accused him of repeatedly raping them over several years.Addressing gaps in laws

According to Hontiveros, her committee remains committed to identifying gaps in existing laws that enable large-scale human trafficking and individuals or groups to justify their abuses.

Zubiri has yet to respond to reporters’ request for comment.

“[T]he signing of the subpoena by the Senate President is usually just ministerial … as of today, he hasn’t signed it yet,” Hontiveros said as she also clarified that she did not consider his nonaction an “obstruction of justice.”

“But it’s something that I and my committee have been waiting for. And I would even say that the victim-survivors have been waiting for it, too,” she stressed.

“But I’m very patient … I will wait for it. And while waiting, my committee will continue with the proceedings. I’m hoping that a subpoena will be signed before our investigation is done,” Hontiveros said. The next hearing is set on Monday.

“It’s very important,” she replied when asked how important it was for the subpoena to be signed by the Senate chief himself.“Any committee chair knows … based on our regular process and rules, when an important witness ignores an invitation of any Senate committee, the next step or instrument in our hands is the subpoena,” Hontiveros said.

An arrest order, according to her, cannot be issued without a subpoena.