Quiboloy in hospital again for pneumonia
Detained Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KOJC) founder Apollo Quiboloy has been in the hospital for nearly three weeks due to pneumonia, the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) said on Tuesday.
The BJMP told the Inquirer in a message that Quiboloy was taken out of the Pasig City Jail and rushed to a public hospital on Sept. 11 after he experienced difficulty in breathing.
“He was later diagnosed with Community Acquired Pneumonia (Moderate Risk),” BJMP spokesperson Jail Superintendent Jayrex Bustinera said.
The court in charge of Quiboloy’s case has already issued an order authorizing his hospital confinement after it was informed of the KOJC leader’s condition, Bustinera added.
“As of 30 September 2025, he is stable and recovering in a public hospital, in line with BJMP policies on medical care for PDL (persons deprived of liberty),” the BJMP spokesperson said.
Multiple charges
The televangelist leader and spiritual adviser of former President Rodrigo Duterte—who is also detained in The Hague, the Netherlands over the thousands of killings under his drug war—has been charged with child abuse and human trafficking cases before courts in Quezon City and Pasig, respectively.
These are in addition to the criminal charges he is facing in the United States, which include conspiracy to engage in sex trafficking by force, fraud and coercion, and sex trafficking of children; sex trafficking by force, fraud, and coercion; conspiracy; and bulk cash smuggling.
On Nov. 8 last year, Quiboloy was taken to the Philippine Heart Center for a routine check, but it led to his confinement for an “irregular heartbeat.”
He was brought back to the detention center at the Philippine National Police headquarters in Quezon City on Nov. 16 after the Pasig court denied his request for hospital arrest.
Previous confinement
On Jan. 23, the KOJC leader, who calls himself the “Son of God,” was hospitalized for pneumonia. He was transferred to the Pasig City Jail on Feb. 12.
Quiboloy was arrested in September 2024 after hiding for 16 days in the 30-hectare KOJC compound in Davao City as he tried to evade arrest by authorities.
The operation to take him in involved 4,500 police officers and cost the government P35 million, according to then Police Brig. Gen. Nicolas Torre III, who led the hunt for the religious sect leader. At the time, Torre headed the Davao Police Regional Office. He later became acting director of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) and then PNP chief.
As CIDG chief, Torre also spearheaded the arrest of Duterte on Mar. 11 based on a warrant issued by the International Criminal Court for alleged crimes against humanity over his crackdown on drugs as Davao City mayor and then as President.
