A Filipino preacher fleeing sexual abuse charges has been arrested

MANILA, Philippines – A Filipino preacher accused of sexual abuse and human trafficking in the Philippines and facing similar charges in the United States has been arrested, officials said Sunday.

Interior Secretary Benhur Abalos announced Apollo Quiboloy's arrest in a brief statement on his Facebook account, but did not provide further details. Philippine police chief Gen. Rommel Francisco Marbil also confirmed Quiboloy's arrest, without providing further details.

Quiboloy went into hiding after a Philippine court ordered his arrest and that of several others on suspicion of child molestation and sexual abuse. The Philippine Senate also ordered Quiboloy's arrest because he refused to appear at hearings of a committee investigating the criminal charges against him.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. called on Quiboloy to turn himself in and assured him of fair treatment by the 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.

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.

The US Embassy in Manila referred requests for comment to the Philippine authorities.

In August, about 2,000 police officers, backed by riot police, raided a huge religious complex of Quiboloy's group, called the Kingdom of Jesus Christ, in southern Davao city. Police were equipped with equipment to detect people hiding in underground tunnels, but were unable to find him in the 30-hectare compound, which includes a cathedral, stadium, school, residential area, hangar and 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 currently under investigation by the International Criminal Court in connection with the extrajudicial killings of thousands of drug suspects by police.