PH envoy: US seeking Quiboloy extradition
The United States is seeking the extradition of detained televangelist Apollo Quiboloy who, aside from being tried in Philippine courts, is wanted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for sex trafficking and bulk cash smuggling.
“I’m confirming documents sent to DOJ (Department of Justice),” Jose Manuel Romualdez, Philippine ambassador to the United States, said in a text message to the Inquirer. “Documents pertaining to the extradition request [were] sent to the DOJ.”
The US government has been seeking Quiboloy’s extradition since June, according to Romualdez.
Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla, however, said the Department of Foreign Affairs has not received any request for Quiboloy’s extradition from the United States.
Dominic Clavano IV, the DOJ spokesperson, also clarified that a person cannot be extradited from the Philippines while a criminal case against him is still pending in courts.
“The rule is that he must first face trial and, if convicted, serve his sentence here before extradition may proceed,” he said, stressing that local jurisdiction is the priority.
However, Clavano noted that courts also have the power to act on cases with urgency, “so if circumstances warrant, we may move to resolve proceedings in order not to unduly delay a valid extradition request.”
Duterte adviser
Quiboloy, founder of the Philippines-based church Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KOJC) that claims to have 7 million followers, was a popular televangelist who wielded political influence until his arrest for human trafficking and abuse in September 2024.
He served as political adviser to then President Rodrigo Duterte, who is now facing charges for crimes against humanity before the International Criminal Court in The Hague, the Netherlands, over his crackdown on drug suspects.
Quiboloy, who calls himself the “appointed son of God,” is detained at the Pasig City Jail. He is facing separate charges of human trafficking before a Pasig City court, and sexual abuse before a Quezon City court.
Sex trafficking
He was indicted by a federal grand jury in the US District Court for the Central District of California in Santa Ana, California, for conspiracy to engage in sex trafficking by force, fraud and coercion and sex trafficking of children; conspiracy; and bulk cash smuggling.
On Nov. 10, 2021, a federal warrant for his arrest was issued. On March 1, 2024, Central District of California Judge Terry Hatter Jr. ordered the warrant unsealed, meaning the details of the charges were made available to the public.
Quiboloy denied all the charges.
The cases stemmed from his alleged participation in a labor trafficking scheme that brought KOJC members to the United States, via fraudulently obtained visas, and forced the members to solicit donations for a bogus charity, donations that actually were used to finance church operations and the lavish lifestyles of its leaders.
The FBI said members who succeeded at soliciting for the church were allegedly forced to enter into sham marriages or obtain fraudulent student visas to continue soliciting in the United States year-round.
Female members of the Quiboloy-led church were also allegedly recruited to work as personal assistants, or “pastorals,” for Quiboloy. Some of them prepared his meals, cleaned his residences, gave him massages and were required to have sex with him in what the pastorals called “night duty.”
Denied bail
Quiboloy was arrested inside his sprawling KOJC compound in Davao City after two-weeklong standoff between the police and his supporters in September 2024.
While still in hiding, he said he would not surrender unless the government made a written guarantee that American authorities would not meddle in the charges filed against him.
In a 30-minute recorded statement on the YouTube channel of his Sonshine Media Network International, Quiboloy said then that he was in hiding not because he was guilty of the charges but because he was “preserving” himself from the US authorities who might kidnap or assassinate him through “extraordinary rendition.”
On July 20, the Pasig Regional Trial Court Branch 159 denied his bid for temporary liberty in the qualified trafficking cases against him, citing his role as the “central figure of authority” who sexually exploited a KOJC member, a minor.
The 23-page order denied Quiboloy’s petition for bail, as well as those of his coaccused Jackielyn Roy, Cresente Canada, Paulene Canada, Ingrid Canada and Sylvia Cemañes.
