Not long time ago one “Alias Rene” was presented by Sen. Risa Hontiveros as a star witness against Kingdom of Jesus Christ Pastor Apollo Quiboloy for sexual trafficking and fraud and to testify in the Senate Committee Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations and Gender Equality which she chairs.
Hontiveros took off from the indictment of the pastor in the US Court on the allegations of sexual abuse and human trafficking. Alias Rene was a mysterious character. He appeared before the Hontiveros committee fully hooded, his voice muffled to effectively hide his identity. Who he was and what he will testify about is known only to the Senator.
Alias Rene told his story and in the course of his narrative he claimed he saw in the Pastor’s retreat house in Glory Mountain then President Rodrigo Duterte and then Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte carrying duffle bags containing firearms after meeting with Quiboloy.
To members of KOJC, they find the Alias Rene testimony ridiculous. They however do not know who Alias Rene was until he came out on video late last month in the open without his hood when he recanted his testimony before the public. In recanting his statement before the Committee he claimed that he was coerced and bribed to fabricate allegations against Quiboloy and the Dutertes. He also suggested that his original statements were influenced or manipulated.
Senator Hontiveros filed cyber libel before the National Bureau of Investigation against alias Rene whom she identified as Michael Maurilio claiming that his statements in his recantations were brazen lies. She also filed similar case against a number of people she suspected to be behind the video of Maurilio’s confession. Her action moreover was frowned upon by some members of the Senate and media persons.
The cyber libel issue is one thing, the recantation is another story as this impacts on the case against Pastor Apollo Quiboloy who is currently in detention precisely because of the allegations of Alias Rene.
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