A celebrity pastor who calls himself the ‘Appointed Son of God’ has pleaded not guilty to several criminal charges including sexually abusing a child and sex-trafficking.
Apollo Quiboloy, leader of the Philippine-based Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KOJC) with six million followers, was arrested on Sunday at the KOJC’s 30-hectare compound in southern Davao city after a weeks-long police operation.
The 74-year-old was led handcuffed into the heavily guarded Pasig courthouse in a bulletproof helmet and flak jacket this morning, with Filipino police concerned about a potential attempt on his life.
He told his followers to ‘stay strong’ before police took him into the courtroom along with several of his alleged accomplices.
A tip off from a ‘whistleblower’ helped police detain the preacher in his compound where it is thought he stored captive women and children as sex slaves.
He stands accused of heinous crimes, indicted in the United States for conspiracy to engage in sex trafficking by force, fraud and coercion and the sex trafficking of children, among a litany of other alleged offences.
Quiboloy (pictured) has pleaded not guilty to the criminal charges against him and his religious group
Filipino televangelist Apollo Quiboloy (C) arrives at a courthouse for his scheduled arraignment in Pasig City, Metro Manila, Philippines
The 74-year-old was led handcuffed into the heavily guarded Pasig courthouse in a bulletproof helmet and flak jacket this morning
Some of Quiboloy’s acolytes are led into the court with him
Quiboloy surrendered in his vast religious complex in the south Sunday in an operation involving more than 2,000 police officers
The self-anointed ‘Son of God’ will remain in detention at a police headquarters for now, the police said, along with several of his acolytes.
‘He is innocent,’ his lawyer, Israelito Torreon, told reporters after his client’s first arraignment today.
Quiboloy also pleaded not guilty to the sexual abuse charges at a Quezon city court via teleconferencing.
But police said more people had come forward alleging they had been sexually abused by him almost immediately following his arrest.
‘It is our firm belief that the truth regarding the alleged criminal acts of Apollo C. Quiboloy and his co-accused will ultimately be disclosed,’ Joahna Paula Domingo, a co-counsel for one of the alleged victims, said in a statement.
‘These cases have been filed in 2019 and we have long been seeking justice for the complainant since then,’ she said.
In a statement issued by KOJC ahead of Quiboloy’s arraignment, the church said that its ‘cardinal rule’ was that members are ‘not forced to do anything against their will.’
Quibolo, faces similar charges in the United States, where he has been included in the FBI’s most-wanted list.
The United States was expected to request the extradition of Quiboloy and his co-accused at some point, but President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said they have to first face justice in the Philippines.
Quiboloy, the self-described ‘appointed son of God’, is on the FBI’s most wanted list
From above: the Kingdom of Jesus Christ compound in Davao City, in the Philippines
Quiboloy launched the KOJC after returning from ‘an exile to Tamayong’, proclaiming that he had been guided by God through dreams in the foothills of Mount Matutum to found his church in the late 1990s.
He has since attracted a huge following of ardent followers across the country, earning him the allegiance of various politicians and state officials.
Rodrigo Duterte, the populist former president, saw the value of Quiboloy’s support when he ran for mayor in 1988, and courted his attention.
Quiboloy maintained a curated public persona, appearing for interviews in the national press and greeting followers on the streets of Davao for decades until as recently as 2021.
But American interest in Quiboloy’s alleged underhand dealings in the US brought international attention to the preacher.
A federal grand jury indicted him for 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.
By November 2021, a federal warrant was issued for his arrest.
The FBI named Quiboloy among its Most Wanted for his alleged participation in a labour trafficking scheme that ‘brought church members to the United States via fraudulently obtained visas, and forces the members to solicit donations for a bogus charity that were used to finance church operations and the lavish lifestyles of its leaders’.
Those who managed to solicit such ‘bogus’ donations were then allegedly ‘forced to enter into sham marriages’ or obtain fraudulent visas to continue working in the US year-round.
The FBI also cites allegations that women were recruited to work as personal assistants or ‘pastorals’, preparing meals for Quiboloy, cleaning his homes, giving him massages and having sex with him in what they referred to as ‘night duty’.
Victims allegedly also faced threats of abuse and ‘eternal damnation’ unless they catered to the self-proclaimed ‘son of God’.
The church claims the pastor (centre) is being pursued because ‘the Devil… will try to eliminate a good man… who lays down his life for his fellowmen, who are oppressed by evil, at all costs’
Haunting footage shows a room still full of personal belongings in the underground bunker
Some rooms are filled with bunk beds, while others are designated as single rooms
Supporters of religious leader Apollo Quiboloy stage a protest rally outside the compund
Police in the Philippines have had additional help from a woman named ‘Amanda’, a whistleblower and former ‘full time miracle worker’ for KOJC who testified that she was one of many women held after being coerced into a sexual relationship with Quiboloy ‘at a young age’.
The Daily Tribune, a local outlet closely following the case, reported that this was presented to victims as a ‘special privilege’ for a select few.
On August 24, the Philippines National Police (PNP) conducted a raid of a 75-acre compound in Davao City associated with the KOJC in search of Quiboloy.
The compound reportedly covers three levels, with two reserved for the ‘most attractive’ women kept by Quiboloy as ‘offerings’ and a third ostensibly used to confine other women, as reported by the Tribune.
Haunting video showed police sweeping dingy, unlit lower floors, vacated but still with signs of life as laundry lay strewn out across large, open plan rooms filled with what appeared to be rows of low, wooden beds.
Other floors looked more like hotel corridors, some with individual rooms containing neatly made single beds, pot plants and posters for decoration, others more sparsely decorated and featuring multiple bunk beds or double beds and sofas.
