“Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.”
Will this saying apply to opposition senator Risa Hontiveros who is seemingly all out to bring Kingdom of Jesus Christ Pastor Apollo C. Quiboloy to her committee in the Senate now investigating claims of various crimes allegedly committed by the religious leader.
May be not; may be yes. And it all depends on how one decides when and where to use scorn to describe a woman’s burst of temper.
In the case of Hontiveros there is no doubt that she felt overly scorned by the refusal of the Davao City-based religious leader to honor her invitation to appear in her Senate committee probe. It is also likely that she felt “insulted” by the Pastor when the latter cited as one reason of his non-appearance is that the Senator has already over-stepped the boundaries of the Senate responsibility. She is now into the prosecutor’s domain..
Meaning, the lady senator might have realized that she has gone beyond the normal intention of a Senate probe which is “in aid of legislation.” The senator knows that what is to come out in hearings are supposed to be used as inputs in crafting new legislation, or amending existing one. But the way she comports herself, it is clear that she is out to destroy the person of the Pastor to be able to bring down her nemesis in former President Rodrigo Duterte and daughter Vice President Sara Duterte, a potential front-runner for the Presidency in the 2028 Presidential election.
From the way Hontiveros does her demand for a Quiboloy appearance in her Senate Committee investigation it is clear that she has already prejudged the Pastor as guilty of the sins alleged by his accusers.
If we have to believe her it appears that there is no intention to craft a law from out of what will transpire in the Quiboloy probe.
While Hontiveros has been saying that she wanted Quiboloy to appear in the Senate investigation, the way she conducts herself in insisting Quiboloy’s appearance in the hearing to the extent of calling for the Pastor’s arrest, she is like in the thick of prosecuting a suspect in the bar of public opinion for crimes whose cases are already in the proper courts.
Over and above that the woman senator is already talking of one person she is convicting as if the Senate hall is the court room and she as judge at the same time..
On the other hand we believe that one reason of the Pastor’s refusal to honor the invite is that the Senate is already encroaching into the judicial territory. According to the legal team of Quiboloy the charges against him is already activated at the Department of Justice and are set for proper deliberations.
Therefore, it is already under the province of the judicial system and that whatever is taken up in the Hontiveros’ committee might have serious implications on the cases. And the woman senator sure knows this.. But she still has to stand her ground because if she backs off that could mean goodbye to her political ambition.
As of yesterday afternoon, the Senate order for the arrest of Quiboloy was already signed by Senate President Miguel Zubiri. The warrant is to be served by the Senate’s Sgt. At Arms and his men. For certain the unit of the Senate will tap the local police assistance to carry it out.
Now the question is:, has Quiboloy still have other options to take to stop the arrest order? Can he still run to the Supreme Court to question the Senate’s arrest order.
Can the religious leader use as his ticket to the Supreme Court his claim that the Hontiveros probe is already persecution and not its supposed intention which is “in aid of legislation?”
Very soon we will find out.
