Apollo Quiboloy styles himself not just a pastor but the “Appointed Son of God,” and throngs of his followers in the country and abroad blindly believe him, although last time we checked, sons are born and not appointed.
Even the great Jesus Christ himself had to be born—albeit by a virgin—a complete oxymoron from which the Catholic Church and other Christian churches feed for their reason for being. But that is beside the point.
The point is Pastor Apollo Quiboloy, the poor boy from Lubao, Pampanga who made good as an overseas Filipino worker (OFW) in South Korea, and made better and richer as leader of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KJC) in Davao, is now being summoned by Sen. Riza Hontiveros to appear in her Senate committee on March 5.
Senator Riza is trying to hale Quiboloy to the Senate to answer charges of sexual and other abuses suffered by his KJC followers. The pastor, who had been and still is a spiritual adviser and friend of former President Rodrigo R. Duterte, is also on the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Most Wanted List. In November, 2024, Quiboloy will have to face the district court in California, USA for the trial of his cases. He and his immediate circle of followers in the US had earlier been indicted by a federal grand jury for “conspiracy to engage in sex trafficking by force, fraud and coercion, sex trafficking of children, marriage fraud, and bulk cash smuggling.”
How dare this Riza, this House of Representives, this FBI, this California court judge, etc. summon the Son of God?
Never in the history of mankind from Adam to Adam Sandlers had there been a brother of Jesus the Nazarene slapped with so many criminal charges in US and Philippine courts. On that measure, at least Quiboloy is already a historical figure.
Pastors as fugitives
Many Bible-quoting pastors have become fugitives from justice, as the law describes those who take flight to evade the long arm of the law.
One example is the beloved and eloquent Pastor Eli Soriano, now deceased, who fled to Brazil to evade imprisonment and other legal punishment for his conviction in a libel case, presumably against other Filipino religious leaders. Soriano had claimed that only his Church of Christ and Ang Dating Daan is the right interpretation of the Holy Bible, which was disputed by the Iglesia ni Cristo (INC), triggering an incendiary debate that lasted for years, ending only with the death of Ka Eli.
With Pastor Quiboloy’s disappearance from the public scene, many believe that he will again snub Riza Hontiveros’ invitation. He may even be already in hiding today, who knows?
We believe Quiboloy— who rides horses with elan and plays golf in Davao like a pro (he sinks his putts and has videos to prove it)—should be man enough to face his accusers in the Senate or in court. After all he is just a man, also he actually believes and professes his natal affinity with the revered JC, of whom the father is greatly pleased.
Rape as body sacrifice
The Senate Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations and Gender Equality led by Hontiveros has summoned Quiboloy through a subpoena to answer the complaints of “Amanda” (not her real name) for sexual abuse.
Amanda testified before the committee that when she was a minor, Quiboloy initially sexually abused her. She was made to believe and endure rape, alleged to be a form of body sacrifice and sanctioned by God himself.
The girl’s testimony also mentioned about her being a “pastoral” — a female worker and member of the congregation who are at the beck and call of Quiboloy, doing his bidding, and sometimes satisfying his sexual urges.
Quiboloy dismissed these allegations as false and just intended to besmirch his reputation as a religious leader. This “reputation” that he adamantly defends, somehow invites close scrutiny due to the fact that this pastor surrounds himself with beautiful and sexy ladies as chorale members doing the background songs and gyrating as a group behind him when he delivers his sermon. These women were from all over the world — Americans, Russians, Europeans, Ukrainians, Filipinos and other Asians—all pretty and made up.
Ridiculously paranoid
Pastor Quiboloy admitted that he has made himself scarce following the news he got that a $2-million bounty was set up for his assassination, even linking that name of President Marcos and his First Lady, Louise Araneta Marcos, and the United States government as behind the plot to eliminate him.
We believe this is both hubris and hogwash, but this so-called pastor can easily give vent to his ridiculous paranoid ideas, for he has already made the outlandish claim that he is the son of God, although an appointed one.
“You (Marcos) have given me to the hands of the Americans. They are just waiting for the right opportunity to kidnap me, or kill me, or assassinate me,” the televangelist was quoted as saying in his voice message.
He categorically accused Marcos of helping the Americans conduct operations against him despite the political support he gave during the 2022 presidential election.
“I will not honor you; I will not respect you because you did not honor me, you did not respect me,” an obviously pissed off Quiboloy said to Marcos.
Describing Marcos as evil and unrighteous, Quiboloy called on the public to join forces and boot out the President – “Let us unite and remove this evil administration used by the bad spirits to spread darkness throughout the Philippines.”
Quiboloy might not know it but he is already treading on legally sensitive ground when he called for the ouster of a sitting President, although we will have to give it to him for saying to Bongbong’s face that his TV network, SMNI, was the only television network who fully supported him during the last presidential campaign.
#WeTakeAStand #OpinYon #Quiboloy #PBBM #