Bayan Muna Representatives Carlos Isagani Zarate and Eufemia Cullamat on Thursday, Nov. 25, hit Kingdom of Jesus Christ church leader Apollo Quiboloy for his reckless and baseless red-tagging.
"Just like President Duterte, who, when criticized on the spate of extrajudicial killings or his servile policy on China, red tags and rants against Bayan Muna and the Makabayan bloc as well as other critics, his so-called spiritual adviser Pastor Apollo C. Quiboloy also engages in similar redtagging of his perceived critics as a way to also divert attention and serve as a smokescreen for his own anomalies," Zarate, the House Deputy Minority Leader, said.
"Our legislative record in the past 20 years in Congress will speak for itself on how we advance and defend the just cause of our marginalized sectors." Cullamat, on the other hand, called Quiboloy a "hypocrite."
"Sa panahon ngayon, dapat maging maingat at mapagmatyag ang mga tao sa mga bulaang mga propeta, na nakasuot ng damit ng tupa pero sa katotohanan ay mga mapanalasang mga lobo. Hindi kami nagdikta ng mga heretiko o kahit ipokritong mga paniniwala tulad na sya daw ang may-ari ng kalawakan o di kaya ay mag-night duty para sa mga menor de edad na babae at sinasabing tinatakot sila ng pagkasunog sa impierno kapag di pumayag (Nowadays, our people should be wary of false prophets wearing sheep's clothes but are actually ravenous wolves. We did not impose heretical, even hypocritical, beliefs like ownership of the universe or activities like 'night duties' on minor women and allegedly threaten them with eternal damnation once they refuse alleged advances,)" Cullamat said.
The Makabayan bloc lady solon also noted that Quiboloy had been linked to multiple cases in the country, including charges of rape, harassment, and the killing of an indigenous people's leader who allegedly refused to sell his property to the followers of the sect.
Cullamat also said that in 2018 Quiboloy was briefly held in Hawaii for transporting large amounts of US and Australian dollars. The church leader and 'self-proclaimed Son of God' is now facing sex trafficking charges in the USA.
"But it seems that he is up till now untouchable because of his patron, Duterte. We hope that the cases against him in the US and in the Philippines will be expedited and that the victims can attain justice soon," Cullamat added.