With warnings of a tempestuous aftermath looming, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and former President Rodrigo Duterte have issued a thunderous call to controversial religious figure Pastor Apollo Quiboloy, beckoning him to cooperate with a Senate probe.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., before he departed for Canberra, Australia on Wednesday, urged Quiboloy to participate in the ongoing investigation, saying that failing to do so could lead to a “bigger mess.”

Former president Rodrigo Duterte also urged his spiritual advisor to face the Senate investigation into alleged sexual abuse or face arrest.

In a late-night press conference on Tuesday, Duterte offered Quiboloy an option: “Just get yourself arrested. This is a free country.”

“If you don’t want to go there (to the Senate), then get yourself arrested. I will give him the free choice,” he said.

Quiboloy, the founder of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ and self-proclaimed “Appointed Son of God,” faces allegations of sexual abuse and franchise violations by his media network, Swara Sug Media Corporation, which operates Sonshine Media Network International.

“I would just advise him, if he has something to say, if he has an opportunity in both the House and the Senate hearings to tell his side of the story, now if he says it’s not true, nothing like that happened, then let him say it,” Marcos said, adding that attending the hearings would give him a chance to defend himself and avoid further complications.

He warned that his continued absence could result in contempt charges, further escalating the situation.

“If he doesn’t show up, he will be held in contempt,” Marcos said. “If it continues, it will be a bigger mess.”

He denied Quiboloy’s assassination claim, saying, “No one wants to assassinate him. Why would anyone want to assassinate him? There’s no reason. Maybe he’s just very, very... I don’t understand what he’s saying. Why would anyone want to assassinate him?”

Duterte, however, downplayed the seriousness of Quiboloy’s legal troubles in the United States, where he faces charges of sex trafficking and fraud.

Dismissing them as “minor cases,” Duterte said the US wouldn’t prioritize pursuing them, allowing Quiboloy to “roam around the country” freely since he has no legal case in the Philippines.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation had placed Quiboloy on its “most wanted” list. A federal warrant was issued for Quiboloy’s arrest on 10 November 2021.

Quiboloy was indicted by a federal grand jury in the US District Court for the Central District of California for conspiracy to engage in sex trafficking by force, fraud and coercion, and sex trafficking of children; conspiracy; and bulk cash smuggling.

“For more than a decade, Apollo Quiboloy engaged in serious human rights abuses, including a pattern of systemic and pervasive rape of girls as young as 11 years old, and he is currently on the FBI’s Most Wanted List. We are confident that Quiboloy will face justice for his heinous crimes,” the US embassy in Manila said in a 21 February statement.

He has consistently denied the allegations, labeling them as politically motivated. Recently, he expressed the fear of being extradited to the United States and has accused the Philippine government of colluding with the US in a plot against him.

In an audio recording, Quiboloy said he is currently hiding due to concerns for his safety. He accused the governments of the US and the Philippines of conspiring to assassinate him.

Both the House and Senate committees have issued subpoenas compelling Quiboloy’s presence.

Solons’ warning

Meanwhile, Senator Risa Hontiveros, chair of the Senate Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations, and Gender Equality, has warned of his possible arrest if Quiboloy fails to appear at the next hearing.

“Our next hearing is on 5 March, and if Mr. Quiboloy does not show up, I will cite him in contempt and have him arrested,” Hontiveros said.

The House Committee on Legislative Franchises is set to hear the SMNI franchise issue on 12 March.

House Senior Deputy Speaker Aurelio Gonzales Jr. said Quiboloy should obey the congressional subpoena and understand that no one is above the law.

“We remind Pastor Quiboloy that he must comply with the subpoena, or we will have no choice but to hold him in contempt and proceed with his arrest,” Gonzales said.

Senator Risa Hontiveros on Wednesday repeated her warning to church leader Apollo Quiboloy to appear before the Senate investigation into the sexual and physical abuse allegations against him and his church to avoid being arrested.

In a press briefing, Hontiveros was asked what her committee would do should Quiboloy refuse to honor the subpoena issued by the Senate.

“Well, I mentioned earlier that if he continues to refuse to attend, I will cite him in contempt and have him arrested,” she said.

The Senate Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations, and Gender Equality, led by Hontiveros, issued a subpoena to Quiboloy in connection with its ongoing investigation into the alleged crimes of a sexual nature against the pastor and other members of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ, or KoJC, that he heads.

The subpoena ad testificandum was received by Quiboloy’s camp on Thursday, 22 February.

Quiboloy, who admitted he was in hiding due to an alleged threat on his life, failed to show up at the two hearings of the Senate panel.

According to Hontiveros, whether Quiboloy would attend the Senate panel’s next hearing on 5 March was unclear.

“There is still no information that he intends to show up. The last thing he said about the hearing was that it was a ‘bogus hearing,’” she said.

Heed call

Hontiveros said she is hoping that Quiboloy would heed the call of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to address the allegations against him.

“I hope that with what the occupant of the highest office in the government and the country has said, it would have weight on him,” she said.

Quiboloy earlier accused Marcos and his wife, First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, of helping the United States government to “eliminate” him.

Hontiveros assured that Quiboloy, like any other resource person who attends Senate hearings, would be given due process.