PASTOR APOLLO QUIBOLOY
INQUIRER PHOTO / GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE
MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Justice’s decision to pursue charges of sexual abuse and qualified trafficking against Apollo Quiboloy is a victory for all women who have endured pain and harm at the religious leader’s hands, Sen. Risa Hontiveros said on Monday.
Hontiveros, in a statement, specifically called this “positive” development “a gift to every woman this Women’s Month.”
“This is a welcome first step towards the victim-survivors’ cry for justice, peace, and healing,” she said.
Hontiveros heads the Senate hearing on Quiboloy’s alleged crimes.
READ DOJ orders filing of child abuse, trafficking case vs Quiboloy
Despite the DOJ’s decision, Hontiveros said the Senate committee on women will continue to investigate, in aid of legislation, the “decades-long abuses” perpetrated by Quiboloy.
“We will ensure that these inquiries will result in strengthened laws for our women, our children, and the most vulnerable among us,” she emphasized.
She likewise thanked Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla for acting decisively on the issue, but she added that those who should really be thanked for are the victims who bravely spoke and testified against Quiboloy.
The Senate’s next hearing on Quiboloy’s alleged crimes is set on March 5. The upper chamber earlier directed the religious leader to attend the probe.
Hontiveros warned Quiboloy that she would move to cite the self-proclaimed “Appointed Son of God” for contempt and have him arrested should he disobey the Senate’s directive.
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