Senator Risa Hontiveros on Tuesday announced that a Pasig Regional Trial Court judge has granted her request to allow detained religious leader Apollo Quiboloy to attend a Senate hearing scheduled on Oct. 23.
Hontiveros, who chairs the Senate Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations and Gender Equality, earlier wrote a letter to the presiding judge of Pasig RTC Branch 159 requesting that the founder of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KOJC) and his co-accused be permitted to appear at the hearing.
The hearing is in connection with Senate Resolution 884, which seeks to investigate sexual abuse allegations against the pastor.
The court’s decision states, “the letter-request to allow the appearance of the accused before the public hearing of the Senate Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations and Gender Equality on October 23, 2024 at 10:00 a.m. is hereby granted.”
The court also directed the jail warden of the Pasig City Jail and the Chief of the Philippine National Police – Custodial Center “to bring and escort the accused to the Session Hall, Senate of the Philippines, Pasay City, and to observe maximum security measures to ensure the safety and security of all the accused.”
Hontiveros said Quiboloy and his followers caused “unspeakable pain to women, children, and the most vulnerable.”
She stressed that the religious leader has a responsibility to respond and should not continue to ignore the Senate’s summons.
Quiboloy’s lawyers, however, urged Senators to be more circumspect about their statements regarding their client as he has not yet been proven guilty.
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