An evangelical preacher wished by the U.S. FBI and who has shut ties to former chief Rodrigo Duterte and his household, has been arrested because the clan’s rift with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. deepens.
Apollo Quiboloy, founding father of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ church, has been arrested in Davao Metropolis after weeks of police operation, Inside Secretary Benhur Abalos mentioned on Sunday in a Fb publish, with out offering different particulars. Authorities have sought to arrest Quiboloy for months.
The 74-year-old pastor who additionally operates a broadcast firm, the Sonshine Media Community Inc., has been within the FBI’s most wished record for alleged sexual abuse, human trafficking and bulk money smuggling. Quiboloy had lengthy denied the allegations, saying it was a part of the struggles of being the “appointed Son of God”—a phrase he makes use of to explain himself. He additionally faces circumstances in native courts.
Quiboloy’s arrest comes after two weeks of standoff and intermittent clashes between the police and the pastor’s followers as authorities searched the huge church compound within the southern metropolis of Davao. The most recent improvement dangers inflaming the worsening battle between the nation’s strongest households whose alliance within the 2022 election delivered landslide victories to Marcos and to Vice President Sara Duterte.
The pastor and Duterte’s adviser is anticipated to reach within the capital late Sunday following his arrest, ABS-CBN Information mentioned on X. In April, two native courts issued arrest warrants in opposition to the preacher and several other others for alleged sexual abuse, baby abuse and human trafficking. The month earlier than that, the Senate additionally issued a warrant for Quiboloy after he didn’t seem in a probe about alleged abuses in his church.
Vice President Duterte, daughter of the previous chief, had criticized the federal government for “grave abuse of police energy” in its operations to arrest the pastor, citing the deployment of about 2,000 personnel. Marcos had defended the police and mentioned the federal government will surely want lots of people to go looking a 30-hectare compound.
Quiboloy’s lawyer Ferdinand Topacio was cited by ABS-CBN Information on X as saying that the pastor surrendered voluntarily to the Armed Forces and was not arrested by the police.
“There was little doubt that he was right here. The search took a very long time as a result of the place is admittedly huge,” Brigadier Common Nicolas Torre, Davao area’s police director, mentioned in an interview with DZBB radio. “I’m additionally grateful to Pastor Apollo Quiboloy for the belief that that is the suitable factor to do – which is to face the legislation.”
In looking Quiboloy’s compound, the police reportedly mentioned they discovered secret tunnels and underground rooms. The self-styled preacher endorsed the election bid of Marcos and Duterte’s daughter in 2022.
