Apollo Quiboloy: FBI's most wanted preacher and “proclaimed son of God” arrested in the Philippines

A Filipino preacher accused of sexual abuse and human trafficking surrendered to authorities at a religious complex in the southern Philippines on Sunday and was subsequently flown to the capital Manila, where he was taken into police custody.

Who is Apollo Quiboloy?

Apollo Quiboloy and four other co-defendants turned themselves in at their group's massive religious headquarters in Davao City after police gave them a one-day ultimatum to surrender. Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said Monday that the evangelical preacher would not be given special treatment following his arrest on Sunday, after police spent weeks searching for the prominent pastor.

“There is no special treatment,” Marcos told reporters on Monday. “We will treat him like any other detainee and respect his rights.” “We will demonstrate once again that our justice system in the Philippines is active, vibrant and functional,” he added.

Flown on an Air Force C-130 aircraft

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 in hiding

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.

Marcos Jr. had previously called on Quiboloy to turn himself in and assured him of fair treatment by 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 group.

2021 US indictment

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.

2,000 police officers searched Quiboloy site

The U.S. Embassy in Manila referred inquiries to Philippine authorities. Last month, about 2,000 police officers, backed by riot police, raided Quiboloy's huge religious complex in Davao in a chaotic operation when large numbers of his followers showed up to resist the raid.

Police had equipment to detect people hiding in underground tunnels, but they were unable to find him 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 being investigated by the International Criminal Court in connection with the extrajudicial killings of thousands of drug suspects.

(With agency contributions)