MANILA: The Philippines said it arrested Sunday a pastor wanted in the United States for child sex trafficking, two weeks into a massive police manhunt for the self-proclaimed “Appointed Son of God”. Apollo Quiboloy, who has close relations with former president Rodrigo Duterte, is the founder of the Philippines-based Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KOJC) church which claims millions of members.

He was charged by the US Justice Department 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 sect members were taken into custody at the church’s compound in the southern city of Davao following negotiations between his representatives and the police and military, Philippine police spokeswoman Colonel Jean Fajardo told reporters. “This afternoon they negotiated their peaceful surrender after we gave them a 24-hour ultimatum,” Fajardo said.

Four hours later Quiboloy and the four sect members were flown by military aircraft to Manila, where they will be detained to stand trial for “child abuse, sexual abuse and qualified (human) trafficking”, Fajardo added. Interior Secretary Benjamin Abalos earlier Sunday announced Quiboloy’s arrest on his official Facebook page.

Quiboloy is also sought by US authorities for bulk cash smuggling and a scheme that brought church members to the United States using fraudulently obtained visas. They were then 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 US Federal Bureau of Investigation. It is not known if the United States has sought the extradition of Quiboloy, aged at least 74 according to the FBI. A US embassy spokesman referred media queries to the Philippine authorities.

‘Concerted effort’

“This is a concerted effort of everyone involved,” Brigadier-General Nicolas Torre, the regional police chief who led the manhunt, told reporters at a news conference confirming the Quiboloy’s arrest. “Let’s be proud. We did our job today.” During his months-long flight from justice, Quiboloy 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 organizations to another country for imprisonment and interrogation. Some 2,000 police were deployed at the KOJC headquarters in Davao on August 24 to serve an arrest warrant against Quiboloy.

Duterte and his daughter — incumbent Vice President Sara Duterte who has had a falling out with President Ferdinand Marcos — had publicly criticized the police search inside the sect’s 30-hectare (70-acre) property. The vice president condemned “the gross abuse of police power in the takeover of the KOJC compound”, and apologized to sect members for having asked them to elect Marcos to the presidency, saying “you deserve better”.

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 neighbors but even their enemies,” it said in a message accompanying the photos. — AFP