DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 23 October) – Pastor Apollo Quiboloy finally attended a Senate hearing on Wednesday, October 23, where damning testimonies of “sexual abuse” have been revealed by the alleged victims of the controversial founder of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ and self-proclaimed “appointed son of God.”
Quiboloy appeared before the Senate’s Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations, and Gender Equality (CWCFRGE) hearing more than a month after his arrest on September 8. He arrived at the Senate premises under heavy police security without a handcuff and wearing a black sweatshirt.
The Pasig City Court had allowed Quiboloy to attend the hearing upon the request of Senator Risa Hontiveros, CWCFRGE chairperson. The committee has been conducting legislative hearings on sexual abuse and human trafficking cases, and summoned Quiboloy to appear, which he did not heed.
Quiboloy is temporarily detained at the Philippine National Police Custodial Center at Camp Crame in Quezon City. The court also allowed Jackielyn Roy, Cresente Canada alias Enteng, Ingrid Canada, Paulene Canada, and Sylvia Cemanes to attend the Senate probe.
At least two key female members of KOJC testified that they were allegedly sexually abused by Quboloy, saying they could not go against his command otherwise they “will go to hell.”
Sleeping with pastor “a privilege”
Teresita Valdehueza, a founding KOJC member who had left the group, said she’s finally telling her story because of “great fear and in the name of those members who suffered in silence.”
The KOJC was founded in 1985 in Davao City.
Reading from a sworn statement, Valdehueza said she left her family to join Quiboloy’s ministry and in 1993 was summoned by Quboloy to Cebu City “to share an important message from God.”
But Valdehueza said she was allegedly molested in one of the hotels in Cebu City.
“When we were alone [in the same room with Quiboloy], I asked if I could sleep on the sofa, as it was a suite room. Instead, he insisted that I sleep beside him… His words made me so uneasy and quite nervous, but I was quick to dismiss this unusual feeling,” she narrated.
Valdehueza said she calmed herself by recalling that she had previously seen fellow KOJC members Ingrid Canada, Teresita Dandan, and Felina Salinas “alternately sleep” in Quiboloy’s room, which led her to believe that it was “normal and harmless,” and sleeping with a “holy man” like Quiboloy is “a great privilege.”
She claimed the sexual abuses were repeated even when they went back to Davao City.
“Moreover, we have been conditioned to suppress any negative thoughts about him,” Valdehueza said.
After several attempts to resign from the congregation due to several “issues” thrown at her, such as neglecting her duties as one of the church’s high officials, she was sent to fast at various times as punishment to the Tamayong Prayer Mountain, one of Quiboloy’s properties, where she escaped in 1999, according to her.
For her part, Ukranian ex-pastoral Yulya Voronina, who is now based in Ukraine, revealed that Quiboloy “holds keys to every bedroom of women in the pastoral ministry, allowing him unrestricted access for sexual purposes.”
She said only “young and beautiful women” are part of this group and that “no one outside knows what happens behind closed doors.”
Voronina shared her personal experience of Quiboloy entering her room at night to allegedly do sexual intercourse. She said that refusal was “not an option,” as disobedience would be met with threats of “eternal hell.”
“You cannot run away… because if you will say, ‘I don’t want’, [Quiboloy] will say, ‘you did not overcome your flesh, and if you will not obey, you will go to hell,’ things like that,” Voronina said.
Quiboloy lures members with “tips”
Davao City police chief Colonel Hansel Marantan bared that Quiboloy used a so-called “tip scheme” to convince members to be part of his church.
Quiboloy will tell the women members to follow “God’s words” – and will assign them to various KOJC properties for “forced labor” or to the “inner pastoral,” or the group of Quiboloy’s holy ministers, choir, and other religious personnel, who were mostly women and where the alleged sexual abuses happen, Marantan said.
During the “grooming” stage, Quiboloy would determine prospects for “sexual exploitation” and those who would not qualify by his standards will be part of his “miracle workers,” who would take care of Quiboloy’s properties or raise funds for the church, the police official said.
Marantan said that some women members inside Quiboloy’s inner pastoral “would go either to Quiboloy’s bedroom, or will be visited by Quiboloy, to do sexual interactions.”
Marantan added that Quiboloy already “victimized around 200 women.”
“Through his preaching with the inner pastorals, as per the narrative of former pastorals, Quiboloy aimed to acquire 1,000 women, anchored with the biblical story of Solomon, King of Israel, who had 700 wives and 300 concubines,” Marantan said.
Quiboloy denies accusations
When asked by Hontiveros if the claims of the former KOJC members were true, Quiboloy said assertively, “Wala pong mga katotohanan ang kanilang mga sinasabi kundi sa aking paningin ay kabaligtaran (They did not tell the truth, I see the other way round).”
“Hinahamon ko po silang mag-file ng kaso, sapagkat ito’y mga kriminal na mga alegasyon at ito’y para maging fair, maghain po sila ng kaso laban sa akin o kung kanino man nilang gustong magfile, sa mga kingdom leaders o members (I’m challenging them to file these allegations in court to make it fair. They can file a case against me or to any leaders or members of the kingdom), ” Quiboloy said.
Quiboloy and his co-accused are facing child abuse and sexual abuse charges before the Regional Trial Court (RTC) in Quezon City, and qualified human trafficking charges before the RTC in Pasig City.
In the United States, Quiboloy is wanted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation 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.” (Ian Carl Espinosa / MindaNews)
