MANILA, Philippines — While some anticipated a fiery clash between opposition lawmaker Sen. Risa Hontiveros and preacher Apollo Quiboloy, it was the victims who took center stage in the long-awaited Senate probe into the latter’s alleged crimes.
Quiboloy evaded authorities for several months after the Senate issued an arrest warrant. Following a two-week standoff at the Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KOJC) compound in Davao City, Quiboloy surrendered to police forces.
However, the investigation into Quiboloy’s evasion received little attention. Hontiveros emphasized in her opening statement that the hearing was dedicated to the alleged victims.
"Mr. Quiboloy, your victims will confront who they believe to be their abuser," Hontiveros said.
Instead of heated debates, the Senate hearing was marked by somber stories of regret and confusion.
Brainwashing
Jocelyn Mondejar, a former ministry member, was forced to leave after developing an ulcer, allegedly due to enduring KOJC’s dry fasting punishments for seven days.
Her children were later invited to join KOJC’s youth ministry camp. To her dismay, her 13-year-old child was taken to a “glass house” without her knowledge. After three days, Mondejar managed to contact her child by phone.
To Mondejar’s shock, her child expressed a desire to stop studying:
“Mama, ‘di na ako mag-aaral kasi babalik na ang Panginoon tapos si Pastor Quiboloy ma-glorify na,” Mondejar recounted.
(Mama, I will not study anymore because God will return and Pastor Quiboloy will be glorified.)
Mondejar was bewildered by her child’s sudden urge to drop out. Her child insisted on becoming an otap (biscuit) vendor to reach a “seventh heaven.”
Mondejar tearfully recounted how her child told her she did not own their life and was merely a vessel of God, while Quiboloy claimed ownership. She suspected someone was whispering things to her child.
The KOJC allegedly faked her child’s studies, Mondejar claimed. With help from a former teacher, she discovered her child was not enrolled in any school.
It wasn’t until Mondejar threatened to involve the Department of Social Welfare and Development and the Department of Education that her child was returned.
Sexual exploitation
Quiboloy allegedly had foreign victims as well. Ukrainian Yulya Voronina, a former KOJC member, shared her experience via video call. Voronina said there were 10 Ukrainian women in the KOJC.
Voronina’s story began with an earnest desire to serve God. Like many other victims in today’s hearings, that desire was twisted into something else.
Psychological punishment was used on members who refused Quiboloy’s advances.
“They will punish and call us, scold us [in] a meeting and put us in shame, saying that we are ungrateful because pastor give us everything and you just don't want to give sacrifice your body, like Jesus Christ sacrificed. And of course they always use the Bible as an instrument to convince us to do it,” Voronina said.
Sex with Quiboloy was presented as a privilege for the girls. Quiboloy had access to their rooms, recounted Voronina. He would go to their rooms and if they refused to have sex with him, Quiboloy would reportedly tell them things like “you didn't overcome your flesh and if you will not obey, you will go to hell.”
Voronina noted that many girls came from broken families and had little understanding of right and wrong. After leaving KOJC, Voronina returned to Ukraine with a clearer perspective on what happened.
“They made us doubt about our feelings, and I was there with an honest heart,” Voronina said.
Quiboloy’s denial
The pastor was given an opportunity to respond to the allegations but stated it would be better handled in court. He challenged anyone to file a case against him.
All of Quiboloy’s co-accused, mostly KOJC leaders, refused to answer, citing their right to remain silent.
Hontiveros did not press further as today’s hearing had to be cut short due to Tropical Storm Kristine affecting Metro Manila.
“Quiboloy presided over a malicious and systematic subversion of personal will, autonomy, and dignity to make his victims participants in their own abuse - psychological, sexual, physical, and economic,” Hontiveros said.
“He presented himself as a god, and he slowly invaded the minds and bodies of his victims. He used their desire to do good to commit heinous evils,” she added in Filipino.