Zubiri: I’ll sign Quiboloy subpoena

“I have been told by my staff that the issuance of the subpoena for Pastor Apollo Quiboloy has been prepared and is now ready for my signature. I am just in the Visayas at the moment for several engagements, but I will sign all these documents upon my return,” Zubiri said.

Speaking at the Kapihan sa Senado on Thursday night, Senator Risa Hontiveros said she already sent a formal letter to Zubiri requesting the issuance of the subpoena against Quiboloy.

Asked why the subpoena remains pending, Hontiveros replied: “It’s better that you ask SP (Senate President’s office) so they can explain.”

“In the meantime, the Senate Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations, and Gender Equality cannot wait for the subpoena any longer. We will continue with the hearing. We already have a second batch of witnesses,” Hontiveros added.

Zubiri said that any delay was not intended, noting that “work haspiled up” amid the recent “attacks against the Senate and our democratic institutions due to the fake People’s Initiative.”

“The noise has only just settled down during these last few days. In the middle of our efforts to protect the institution, a lot of our administrative work has piled up in my office, including paperwork that needs my signature,” he said.

In December, Hontiveros filed Senate Resolution 884 that seeks to investigate the accusations against KOJC in aid of legislation to “allow us to determine whether our updated human trafficking laws are able to cover large-scale and systemic acts of trafficking done under the cover of a religious organization.”

“Apollo Quiboloy, who styles himself as the ‘Appointed Son of God and the leader of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ The Name Above Every Name (KOJC)’, allegedly demands strict obedience from his full-time followers through brainwashing, psychological manipulation and constant threats of eternal damnation,” Hontiveros said in her resolution.

In a privileged speech last year, Hontiveros bared accounts of victims who were allegedly exploited or sexually abused by Quiboloy.

Responding to the resolution, Quiboloy’s lawyers dared Hontiveros to bring the allegations to the proper courts and dismissed the Senate probe as mere “deception.” — with Macon Ramos-Araneta