Quiboloy camp maintains he's no longer involved in SMNI

The camp of Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KOJC) leader Apollo Quiboloy on Friday said that he has not been involved in the management and operations of Sonshine Media Network International (SMNI) since 2018.

In a letter addressed to House Committee on Legislative Franchises Chairperson Gus Tambunting, Quiboloy's lawyers said that he was only an "honorary chairman" of SMNI.

"[T]he Securities and Exchange Commission was informed of his substitution by Mr. Marlon Acobo as Executive Pastor of the KOJC… Thereafter, the only title (if one may call it that) that PAQC (Pastor Apollo Quiboloy) has continued to hold in SMNI is that of 'honorary chairman,' which, as the name implies, is purely honorary in character," they said.

Last Monday, the House issued a subpoena against Quiboloy directing him to appear before the congressional inquiry into the call to revoke the franchise of Swara Sug Media Corporation, which runs and operates SMNI.

However, his legal counsels said that Quiboloy does not possess the details or documents that the committee is seeking from him.

His camp directed the House of Representatives to contact Acobo and two others, whom they said "will have all the information and documents" that may be required by the committee.

"We are confident that these individuals can contribute valuable insight and information pertinent to your Honorable Committee's investigation. Therefore, we respectfully request that the Committee issues the corresponding subpoenae to the aforementioned individuals in the stead of PACQ," they said.

The letter was signed by lawyers Ferdinand Topacio, Joselito Lomangaya, and Raphael Antonio Andrada.

Duterte's appointment

Meanwhile, former President Rodrigo Duterte has been appointed as the new administrator for KOJC properties, SMNI announced Friday.

SMNI, the media arm of the KOJC, made the announcement in a post on X (formerly Twitter).

The development came after a California court ordered the unsealing of the arrest warrants issued against Quiboloy and his co-accused over charges of conspiracy to engage in sex trafficking by force, fraud, coercion, sex trafficking of children, conspiracy, and cash smuggling.

The federal warrant of arrest was issued against Quiboloy in November 2021.

Aside from the summon by the House of Representatives, the Senate has also issued a subpoena against Quiboloy after he skipped the hearings on the alleged sexual abuses and human trafficking involving KOJC.

Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla, meanwhile, has directed the Office of the City Prosecutor of Davao City to file a case against Quiboloy for sexual abuse of a minor. A qualified trafficking case against Quiboloy will also be filed in a Pasig court. — VDV, GMA Integrated News