Philippines: Fugitive pastor Apollo Quiboloy 'arrested'
Influential pastor, wanted by Philippine and US authorities, was in hiding since April
Manila: A fugitive Filipino pastor was arrested on Sunday, September 8, 2024, local media reported.
The circumstances surrounding the arrest of Apollo Carreon Quiboloy, 74, founder of a Philippines-based church known as the Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KOJC), were not immediately clear.
Local authorities and members of the KOJC have been at odds since April, when a Manila court issued an arrest warrant for the cult leader.
Hundreds of police officers and members of SWAT were seen outside the KOJC compound in Davao on Sunday.
Quiboloy, a self-proclaimed "Son of God" and ally of former president Rodrigo Duterte, is the founder of the Philippines-based JOKC cult. He runs a TV station.
He is wanted in the United States for child sex trafficking. He was last negotiating with the Philippine government over a guarantee of no extradition in exchange for his surrender to local police.
The US Justice Department charged Quiboloy in 2021 with sex-trafficking of girls and women aged 12 to 25 to work as personal assistants, or "pastorals", who were allegedly required to have sex with him.
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In hiding
In April this year, a court in Manila (Pasig City) ordered Quiboloy's arrest for qualified human trafficking. He also has an arrest warrant for child and sexual abuse complaints issued by the Davao City Regional Trial Court.
Quiboloy wields substantial power in his Davao stronghold.
On Friday, local media reported that unarmed female Philippine National Police (PNP) officers were subjected to body searches by members of the KOJC before they could begin their search for Quiboloy and his associates, according to PNP-Davao Region Director Brig. Gen. Nicolas Torre III.