A pastor wanted in the US for the alleged sex trafficking of children has been arrested two weeks into a huge police manhunt for the self-proclaimed “appointed son of God”, officials in the Philippines have said.
Apollo Quiboloy is the founder of the Philippines-based Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KOJC) church, which claims millions of members.
He was charged by the US Department of Justice in 2021 with sex trafficking of girls and women between the ages of 12 and 25 to work as personal assistants, or “pastorals”, who were allegedly required to have sex with him.
Quiboloy and four other co-accused surrendered in the group’s vast religious headquarters in Davao city after the police gave a 24-hour ultimatum for them to give up, police said. The interior secretary, Benhur Abalos, had earlier said Quiboloy was caught by authorities.
Quiboloy and his co-accused were flown on a Philippine air force C-130 plane to the capital on Sunday night and locked up in a heavily guarded detention centre at the national police headquarters, where their mugshots and fingerprints were taken, police spokesperson Col Jean Fajardo said at a news briefing.
“The Philippine national police gave an ultimatum for them to surrender, otherwise we would raid a particular building, where we’ve been barred from entering,” Fajardo said, adding that the warning had led to their peaceful surrender.
Quiboloy went into hiding earlier this year after a Philippine court ordered his arrest and several others on allegations of suspicion of child and sexual abuse and human trafficking, Fajarto said.
The Philippine Senate separately ordered Quiboloy’s arrest for refusing to appear in public committee hearings that were looking into criminal allegations against him.
The president, Ferdinand Marcos Jr, had urged Quiboloy to surrender and assured him of fair treatment by authorities.
The preacher and his lawyer have denied the allegations against him, saying they were fabricated by critics and former members who were removed from the religious group.
Quiboloy is also sought for alleged cash smuggling and a scheme that brought church members to the US using fraudulently obtained visas.
They were then allegedly forced to solicit donations for a bogus charity, raising funds that were instead used to finance church operations and the lavish lifestyles of its leaders, according to the FBI.
It is not known if the US has sought extradition for Quiboloy, who is aged at least 74, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
A US embassy spokesperson referred media queries to the Philippine authorities.
During his months-long flight from justice, Quiboloy had demanded a written guarantee from Manila that he would not be subject to “extraordinary rendition” as a condition for his surrender.
The term refers to a US government practice of sending detained suspected members of terror organisations to another country for imprisonment and interrogation.
Two-thousand police were deployed at the KOJC headquarters in the southern city of Davao on 24 August to serve an arrest warrant against Quiboloy.
Former president Rodrigo Duterte and his daughter – the incumbent vice-president, Sara Duterte, who has had a falling out with President Ferdinand Marcos – had publicly criticised the police raid of the sect’s 30-hectare (70-acre) property as they searched for Quiboloy.
Minutes after Quiboloy’s arrest was announced, SMNI, a Philippine television station run by his sect, posted on its Facebook page pictures of members embracing uniformed police officers.
“After all the pains and struggles, it is evident that the KOJC missionaries have embraced pastor Apollo Quiboloy’s teaching to love not only their neighbours but even their enemies,” it said in a message accompanying the photos.
Agence France-Presse and Associated Press contributed to this report