MANILA, Philippines — A former Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KJC) member linked former President Rodrigo Duterte and Vice President Sara Duterte to sect leader Apollo Quiboloy, who is being investigated for his alleged crimes.
During a public hearing of the Senate Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations, and Gender Equality on Monday, “Rene” – a former KJC landscaper at Quiboloy’s Glory Mountain and alleged witness-survivor to the pastor’s supposed crimes – claimed that he saw the Dutertes visit the property and carry a bag of firearms as they left.
“I was a landscaper for Quiboloy at Glory Mountain and that’s where I experienced being hurt by Quiboloy himself. Whenever he was dissatisfied with our landscape work on his mansion, he would slap and hit us. This happened around four times a week,” Rene said in Filipino.
READ: LIVESTREAM: Senate resumes probe on alleged offenses of Apollo Quiboloy, church
“At Glory Mountain, whenever Quiboloy arrives in a chopper, he has big bags full of different types of guns and lays them out in the tent next to his mansion. Sometimes, former President Rodrigo Duterte and former Davao Mayor Sara Duterte also go there. When they were leaving Glory Mountain, they carried the same bags used to store guns,” he added.
Later, Sen. Risa Hontiveros, presiding over the panel chair hearing, asked Rene to repeat his earlier testimony that he saw the Dutertes at Glory Mountain.
Hontiveros reminded Rene that he was under oath and could not lie. But Rene stood by his story.
“Yes, madam chair. I used to see them at Glory Mountain,” he said.
Apollo Quiboloy
READ: Senate issues subpoena against Apollo Quiboloy
Asked how he could determine that the bag’s contents were guns, Rene explained that Quiboloy himself usually laid out these firearms.
“Because whenever Quiboloy goes to Glory Mountain in a chopper, he has big bags. Then the bag from the helipad, he takes it there…he brings it to his mansion and then lays it on the ground. There’s a tent in his mansion, and it’s where the different types of guns are laid out,” Rene said.
INQUIRER.net has sought Vice President Sara Duterte and Quiboloy’s legal counsel, Ferdinand Topacio to comment on the allegation, but they have not responded as of this writing.
A smear campaign?
But former President Rodrigo Duterte’s team – specifically his former legal counsel, Salvador Panelo downplayed Rene’s testimony, saying his narration is pure concoction, further calling it as a mere incredible tale.
“The alleged infliction of physical beating on the witness runs counter to the character as well reputation of Pastor Quiboloy inside the KJC, as a kind-hearted and compassionate man,” said Panelo.
For his part, Panelo believes that Rene’s testimony against the Dutertes and Quiboloy are lies.
He said Rene could’ve been paid by “those behind the smear campaign” against Dutertes and the religious leader.
“The witness declaration that Pastor Quiboloy used to go to Glory Mountain and brought with him bags full of various firearms and that at one time PRRD and VP Sara brought with them those firearms is absolutely a pure lie,” he added.
READ: Quiboloy dares Hontiveros to help accusers sue him
Rene: In 2021, I left KJC
Rene, who was purportedly subjected to forced labor and physical abuse, left the religious organization in 2021.
“I was fully decided, and even though I was scared I said, ‘Nothing can hold me back any longer.’ At first, they didn’t want to allow me, but eventually, they agreed after I said that I would sue Tina San Pedro [reportedly from the Sonshine Media Network International],” he said.
But before he could permanently leave the KJC, Rene said he was cautioned against talking about the organization – especially things he learned at Glory Mountain – and was threatened that he would be jailed and would “disappear from Earth” if he did.
“I kept quiet for a few years and carried the trauma of what I went through — especially since I’m a member of the LGBTQ community.”