đź“·Teresita ValdehuezaÂ
A former follower of doomsday preacher Apollo Quiboloy said on Wednesday, October 23, that she felt deceived and manipulated into believing the doomsday preacher Apollo Quiboloy’s sexual acts against her were normal.
Testifying before the Senate, Teresita Valdehueza shared her traumatic experience as one of the founding members of the Quiboloy-led Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KOJC), where she said she felt had reached a “profound, spiritual awakening.”
“It was only when I was out of the group that I finally clearly understood that the man I had believed to be God’s chosen and holy was an impostor, oppressor, and deceiver. He manipulated me using his authority and power as God’s anointed,” Valdehueza said.
In 1980, at the age of 17, Valdehueza joined the KOJC, where she enthusiastically supported the growing ministry. Eight years later, she decided to fully devote her life to it.
She said her decision required her to leave her family, career, and the person she used to be. Despite the objections her family and friends, Valdehueza said she followed her conviction.
She added that she became part of a pioneering group that faced challenges in meeting even basic necessities, but she said her determination to serve God kept her going.
Valdehueza shared that at first, she believed everything was as it should be, considering her experiences as “answered prayers” from God. But this changed in 1993 when Quiboloy had a “divine revelation.”She claimed that Quiboloy sexually abused her.
She recalled receiving a call from the doomsday preacher, who was in Cebu at the time, inviting her to join him for what he described as a “divine revelation” meant specifically for her. Quiboloy instructed her to travel from Manila to Cebu, where he promised to deliver this “important message.”
Once in Cebu, the pastor asked her to stay in the same hotel room as him. Valdehueza requested to sleep on the sofa, but the pastor, she said, insisted that she sleep beside him in bed. He pointed out that they were compatible since they were both wearing the same color—red—at the time.
“Sleeping beside a man I believed to be chosen by God was for me then a great privilege, an opportunity for a sinner like me. But what followed shattered my sense of faith and trust. Without a word, after turning off the light, he embraced me, undressed me, and violated me with his lustful act that left me in shock and speechless,” Valdehueza said.
“Confusion consumed me. I felt betrayed—by my faith, by him, and even perhaps by myself. I began questioning whether what had happened was indeed God’s will or simply a gross abuse of power,” Valdehueza added.
The alleged sexual abuse persisted in the ensuing years, and Valdehueza began to feel that something was amiss. When she finally found the opportunity to admit her emotions, she wrote to Quiboloy in 1994, candidly expressing her emotional turmoil.
Valdehueza wanted to leave the KOJC, but she felt isolated, having severed ties with her family and friends. Moreover, her family was struggling financially and lacked resources.
“I was honest about how deeply shocked I was to learn of his life beyond the pulpit. The man I had revered as a holy figure was, in reality, an ordinary mortal one who had exploited my genuine commitment and dedication to God. My faith wavered, and everything I had once believed was shattered,” she said.
Rather than receiving a “harsh and violent” response to her letter, Quiboloy then promoted Valdehueza in the KOJC. She was appointed National Crusade Coordinator, National Logistics Coordinator, and Luzon Area Administrator – a sudden and significant promotion from my previous role.
A persistent thought lingered in her mind: What if this was God’s will.
On February 15, 1998, Valdehueza claimed she was “used” by Quiboloy once more. The following day, her pent-up emotions overwhelmed her, and she collapsed while preparing for church activities.
Quiboloy was the one who performed mouth-to-mouth resuscitation on her.
“I learned he told others that it was just a way for me to seduce him, labeling me as Jezebel, the temptress,” she said.
But then Valdehueza kept herself busy with work, but she was “gripped by fear” whenever Apollo Quiboloy visited Manila. She was subsequently sent to the United States to spearhead a fundraising activity.
“I never wanted to go to America because inside of me were, unresolved spiritual issues, confused mind that bothered me always, but my visa was approved. I then knew that I was to lead and plan for the fund raising to be done in America,” she said.
During the Senate hearing, Valdehueza revealed that she had a target of raising between P10 million and P15 million to support operations.
To generate funds, she organized Christmas caroling, noting that KOJC “recruited and trafficked young people from Mindanao and Visayas to carol in the provinces of Luzon and in cities throughout the National Capital Region.”
“Marami pong estudyante na Nobyembre pa lang kailangan nang mag-absent sa paaralan at ang iba hindi na nakabalik sa pag-aaral dahil inuna ang simbahan, inuna ang pag-caroling, inuna ang paghanap ng pera. Nobody questioned where our income was spent,” she said.
While in the US, Valdehueza reported that KOJC officials observed her “indifference.”
They accused her of “secretly” sending money to her family in Manila and of seducing and engaging in inappropriate relations with KOJC ministers.
She stated that she was coerced into writing a lengthy letter outlining her supposed sins, all while being instructed not to implicate Quiboloy.
As punishment, she was sent back to the Philippines in 1998 and instructed to engage in “prayer and fasting under the pretense of spiritual discipline.”
In January 1999, Valdehueza submitted a resignation letter to Quiboloy, but it was not accepted. She tried again in September of the same year, but Quiboloy rejected her resignation once more.
Valdehueza claimed that Quiboloy tarnished her reputation, using his pulpit to publicly denounce her as filthy and evil. He labeled her “Jezebel, the temptress.”
In November 2021, she stated that Quiboloy “once again maligned me, broadcasting nationally and internationally that I was a fornicator and an immoral woman.”
Valdehueza is the latest alleged victim to come forward with testimonies of sexual abuse against Quiboloy. He has been in the custody of the Philippine National Police since September 8, following extensive operations at the KOJC compound in Davao City. His arrest came after months of planning and a two-week standoff between police and Quiboloy’s supporters.
The doomsday preacher faces charges of sexual abuse of a minor and child abuse. Additionally, he is wanted in the US for sexual trafficking. Recently, he filed his certificate of candidacy for the 2025 Senate race. (TCSP)
