Police Raid Religious Compound of Filipino Televangelist
Around 2,000 police raided a religious compound in the Philippines last weekend in search of Filipino televangelist Apollo Quiboloy, who has been accused of child sex trafficking, several local news stations reported.
The raid, which is ongoing and led to clashes between members of Quiboloy’s Kingdom of Jesus Christ Church (KOJC) and police, injured six officers, police stated on social media. Authorities say they will not stop until they have found Quiboloy.
Quiboloy is a self-proclaimed “Son of God” and spiritual advisor to former Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte. His church also has a United States headquarters in Los Angeles. The church claims to have more than 6 million members in 200 countries, The Roys Report (TRR) previously reported.
The 74-year-old pastor is on the FBI’s most wanted list for multiple charges, including child sex trafficking, sex trafficking by force, bulk cash smuggling, fraud and coercion, among other things.
In the Philippines, the pastor faces charges of sexual and child abuse under the country’s Department of Justice.
Authorities have been on the hunt for Quiboloy for months, police said. Authorities are also seeking to arrest four of the pastor’s companions.
Apollo Quiboloy (Photo courtesy apolloquiboloy.com)
Quiboloy is believed to be hiding in an underground bunker somewhere inside his 75-acre complex, Davao Police Regional Office Director Nicolas Torre III told Inquirer.net. Quiboloy’ compound houses around 40 buildings, including a cathedral, a school and a hangar.
Quiboloy previously said that for him to surrender to police in the Philippines, he required a written guarantee from the country’s government that “there will be no American interference and no (extradition),” TRR reported.
“Unless you give me the guarantee I’m looking for, you won’t see me. Go ahead and manhunt me,” Quiboloy said. “I’d rather die at the hands of the Filipinos, for my blood to spill here in my country, than to die at the hands of the American authorities who are overseas, in their country.”
Tensions and violence escalate in police raid
The raid against Quiboloy has continued to escalate.
There have been reports that tear gas has been used against Quiboloy’s followers, BBC News reported.
Additionally, one KOJC supporter of the church has died during the raid.
Police claimed on Facebook that the supporter died of a heart attack. However, former President Duterte said in a statement to Inquirer.net that police “forced their way” into the church’s compound and caused the death.
“We sympathize with the members of the KOJC for having become victims of political harassment, persecution, violence, and abuse of authority,” Duterte said. This certainly puts a dark stain on the hands of those involved in today’s incident, led by no less than the top police official of the region.”
Ferdinand Topacio, a lead attorney for Quiboloy, told Bilyonaryo News Channel that the church might file a human rights complaint to the United Nations about the police raid.
Police have shared videos on Facebook of the church’s supporters throwing kitchen knives and rocks at authorities. Six police officers were injured by the assaults.
Police also said that Quiboloy’s followers have blocked parts of a major highway in an attempt to disrupt traffic to his compound.
“Despite facing backlash and negative comments from citizens,” police are still “diligently working” to arrest Quiboloy, they announced in a press release.
Police added that they plead “for public understanding as they carry out their duty to enforce the law.”
On Monday, 18 members of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ Church were arrested a protest in front of the compound, GMA News Online stated.
Quiboloy’s history of charges
Quiboloy made the FBI’s most wanted list after a California court indictment in 2021 accused him and eight associates of child sex trafficking. According to the court, Quiboloy coerced girls and young women between the ages of 12 to 25 to have sex with him under threats of “eternal damnation.”
He reportedly required these girls and women to work for him as personal assistants, or “pastorals.” The assistants then prepared his meals, cleaned his residences, gave him massages and were required to have sex with Quiboloy as a part of their “night duty,” according to the FBI.
He had approximately 200 assistants, many of them Ukrainian girls and women, who felt pressured to “sacrifice” their bodies to Quiboloy, TRR reported.
Quiboloy has also been accused of a labor trafficking scheme that brought church members to the U.S. through fraudulently obtained visas, according to the FBI. The members were forced to solicit donations for a bogus charity. Instead, the money went to financing the church leaders’ “lavish lifestyles,” the FBI said.
The pastor owns four large properties in Canada and the United States, estimated to have a total value of $9 million, according to an investigation from the news site Rappler. In 2018, a property of his in Hawaii, worth nearly $2 million, was at the center of an alleged fake sale.
Additionally, the pastor owns a private jet.
Quiboloy continues to maintain his innocence, TRR reported. He claims that the U.S. government has bribed people to be false witnesses and to create “fabricated lies” about him.
The pastor said his ministry is peaceful and is growing God’s kingdom. He doesn’t want a manhunt against him like he is some “drug lord,” he noted.
This story was republished with permission from The Roys Report.
Liz Lykins is a freelancer who writes for WORLD Magazine, Christianity Today, Ministry Watch, and other publications.