Filipino preacher fleeing sexual abuse charges turns himself in

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — A Filipino preacher accused of sexual abuse and human trafficking in the Philippines, as well as similar charges in the U.S., surrendered to authorities at his religious compound in the southern Philippines on Sunday and flew to Manila, where he was taken into police custody, officials said.

Apollo Quiboloy and four other co-defendants turned themselves in at the massive religious headquarters of their group, called the Kingdom of Jesus Christ, in Davao City after police gave them a 24-hour ultimatum to surrender, police said. Interior Secretary Benhur Abalos earlier said Quiboloy had been caught by authorities.

Quiboloy and his co-defendants were flown to the capital on a Philippine Air Force C-130 plane on Sunday evening and detained in a heavily guarded detention center on the grounds of the National Police headquarters, where their mugshots were taken and their fingerprints taken, police spokesman Col. Jean Fajardo said in a news conference.

“The Philippine National Police gave them an ultimatum to surrender. Otherwise, we would storm a certain building where we were forbidden to enter,” Fajardo said, adding that the warning led to their peaceful surrender.

Quiboloy went into hiding earlier this year after a Philippine court ordered his arrest and that of several others on suspicion of child abuse, sexual abuse and human trafficking, Fajarto said. The Philippine Senate separately ordered Quiboloy’s arrest because he refused to attend public hearings of the committee investigating the criminal charges against him.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. had called on Quiboloy to surrender and assured him of fair treatment by the authorities.

The preacher and his lawyer denied the allegations against him, saying they were fabricated by critics and former members who had been expelled from the religious community.

In 2021, U.S. federal prosecutors announced the indictment of Quiboloy on allegations that he had sex with women and underage girls who were threatened with abuse and “eternal damnation” if they did not yield to the self-proclaimed “Son of God.”

Quiboloy and two of his top officials were among nine people named in an indictment returned by a federal grand jury and unsealed in November 2021. It contained a range of charges, including conspiracy, trafficking of children for sexual exploitation, sex trafficking with violence, fraud and coercion, marriage fraud, money laundering, cash smuggling and visa fraud.

The US Embassy in Manila referred requests for comment to the Philippine authorities.

Last month, about 2,000 policemen, backed by riot police, raided Quiboloy’s huge religious site in Davao in a chaotic operation when large numbers of his followers showed up to oppose the raid.

Police had equipment to detect people hiding in underground tunnels, but were unable to find the man in the 30-hectare site, which includes a cathedral, a stadium, a school, a residential area, a hangar and a runway to Davao International Airport.

In 2019, Quiboloy claimed to have prevented a major earthquake in the southern Philippines.

He was also a close supporter and spiritual adviser to former President Rodrigo Duterte, who is currently being investigated by the International Criminal Court in connection with the extrajudicial killings of thousands of mostly poor drug suspects by police.

Jim Gomez, The Associated Press