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PRESIDENT Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. on Wednesday urged Apollo C. Quiboloy, founder of a Philippine megachurch who has been charged with sex trafficking and bulk cash smuggling, to address allegations against him before lawmakers.

Mr. Quiboloy, founder of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KOJC), should attend congressional hearings and present his side of the story, Mr. Marcos told reporters.

“He has an opportunity in the hearings both in the House and in the Senate to say his side of the story,” he said. “If he says ‘all of that is not true, it is not true,’ nothing will happen there.”

The religious leader, who claims to be the “appointed son of God,” was subpoenaed by Senator Ana Theresia Hontiveros-Baraquel after failing to attend multiple hearings that tackled alleged sexual crimes hurled against him.

Ms. Hontiveros -Baraquel, chair of the Senate committee on women, children, family relations, and gender equality, had warned she would cite him in contempt and have him arrested if he failed to appear at a hearing set for March 5.

“My advice for him is to just face the questioning in the House and in the Senate,” Mr. Marcos said.

He was also slapped with a subpoena order by House lawmakers who are investigating the franchise of his Sonshine Media Network International (SMNI), a media outlet that has been known for spewing lies and tagging critics as communists.

Mr. Quiboloy, a spiritual adviser of former president Rodrigo R. Duterte, landed on the US Federal Bureau of Investigation’s most wanted list in 2022 for “his alleged participation in a labor trafficking scheme that brought church members to the United States, via fraudulently obtained visas, and forced the members to solicit donations for a bogus charity, donations that actually were used to finance church operations and the lavish lifestyles of its leaders.”

Mr. Quiboloy’s assets in the US have been frozen since 2022 after an American court indicted him in 2021 for sex trafficking and other charges.

In an audio recording that circulated on social media, Mr. Quiboloy said he is in hiding due to a supposed plot to assassinate him. He accused the US Central Intelligence Agency and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) of collaborating with the Philippine government for the alleged plot. The US Embassy said last week it is confident that Mr. Quiboloy will be held to account for his crimes.

“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,” it said.  “Questions about legal proceedings should be directed to the US Department of Justice.” — Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza

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