ASEANEWS HEADLINE-COURTS & LAW- QUEBOLOY RAPE CASE | MANILA: US requests Quiboloy extradition on sex raps
Kingdom of Jesus Christ leader ApApollo Quiboloy. Photos from the Philippine National Police
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US gov’t requests extradition of Apollo Quiboloy | ANC
The United States formally requested that the Philippines turn over custody of detained televangelist Apollo Quiboloy. The controversial pastor is wanted in the U.S. for sexual trafficking, smuggling, and fraud. – ANC, The World Tonight, August 6, 2026
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MANILA, Philippines — The United States has formally requested the extradition of Filipino evangelical pastor Apollo Quiboloy, who is wanted on sex-trafficking charges, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said on Thursday.
The US request for extradition was sent to the Department of Justice (DOJ) in Manila through the DFA in July.
“The Department of Foreign Affairs confirms it has received the United States Government’s request for the extradition of Apollo Quiboloy,” DFA spokesperson Analyn Ratonel told the Inquirer. “The DFA has endorsed the request to the DOJ.”
Jose Manuel Romualdez, the Philippines’ ambassador to Washington, confirmed earlier that a “formal request had been transmitted” to the DOJ.
The US Embassy in Manila did not immediately reply to requests for comment.
On March 18, 2024, a qualified human trafficking case was filed against Quiboloy before the Pasig City Regional Trial Court (RTC). A separate case for sexual abuse of minors and maltreatment was filed before a Davao court a week prior.
The Davao case was transferred to the Quezon City RTC in May 2024 as ordered by the Supreme Court to avoid “a miscarriage of justice.”
The self-proclaimed “appointed son of God” and founder of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KJC), also an ally of former President Rodrigo Duterte, went into hiding and was arrested in Davao City in September 2024.
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Quiboloy, who pleaded not guilty shortly after his arrest, has been held in the Pasig City jail ever since.
The extradition request needs the approval of the two courts, which have been trying the detained former televangelist for human trafficking and child abuse charges.
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READ: From DFA to court: How the US extradition request for Quiboloy will move
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DOJ position
The DOJ said the Philippines could temporarily turn over Quiboloy to the United States for trial there as long as conditions and legal requirements for extradition are met.
DOJ spokesperson Polo Martinez said in a statement that the DFA, as the first point of contact in extradition requests between two states, would first determine whether the extradition bid is in compliance with the Philippines-US treaty and other applicable laws.
Martinez noted that the government had two options under the extradition treaty with the United States.
“It can hold off on the extradition until his case here is finished, subject to applicable rules of procedure or … it can temporarily hand him over to the US for trial there, subject to and depending on conditions agreed upon by the US and (the Philippines),” he said.
Martinez cited Article 11 of the 1994 Philippines-US extradition treaty, which sets the framework for temporary and deferred surrender of a person who is facing charges in both countries.
“The person so surrendered shall be kept in custody in the requesting state and shall be returned to the requested state after the conclusion of the proceedings against that person, in accordance with conditions to be determined by agreement between the contracting parties,” it stated.
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If the Philippines chooses to postpone the extradition of Quiboloy, it may do so until the person has been fully prosecuted or has completed serving his or her sentence, depending on the circumstances of the case.
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Heyday with Duterte
Quiboloy, 76, founded KJC in 1985 in Davao City. The church claims to have a wide following in the Philippines and abroad, including in the United States.
In his heyday, Quiboloy was one of the most influential religious leaders in the Philippines and regarded as a political kingmaker. He served as spiritual adviser to the equally controversial Duterte, who took office in June 2016.
Duterte was arrested in Manila last year under a warrant from the International Criminal Court and has since been detained in the Netherlands, where he will face trial for alleged crimes against humanity. The charges stem from the killings of large numbers of mostly poor drug suspects under Duterte’s antidrug crackdowns, which alarmed Western governments and rights groups.
In 2024, Quiboloy went into hiding after a Philippine court ordered his arrest along with several others for alleged child and sexual abuse and human trafficking, police said.
The Philippine Senate separately ordered Quiboloy’s arrest at the time for refusing to appear in public hearings about his alleged crimes.
READ: Hontiveros on Quiboloy extradition: About time
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The preacher denied the allegations, saying they were fabricated by critics and former members who were removed from his religious group.
Quiboloy and four others facing accusations surrendered in September 2024 after about 2,000 police raided a 30-hectare compound of KJC, which included a cathedral, stadium, hangar and taxiway leading to Davao’s international airport. He has been jailed since then.
In 2021, US federal prosecutors announced an indictment of Quiboloy for allegedly having sex with women and underage girls who faced threats of abuse and “eternal damnation” unless they catered to him.
Raft of charges
Apollo Quiboloy. Photos from the Philippine National Police
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Quiboloy was among nine people named in a superseding indictment returned by a US federal grand jury and unsealed in November 2021. It contained a raft of charges, including conspiracy, sex trafficking of children, sex trafficking by force, fraud and coercion, marriage fraud, money laundering, cash smuggling and visa fraud.
After that indictment, he was placed on the list of the FBI’s 10 most wanted fugitives.
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The 2021 US indictment alleges girls and women between the ages of 12 and 25 were recruited as personal assistants for Quiboloy to prepare his meals, clean his residence, give him massages, and have sex with him.
Earlier this week, Quiboloy’s codefendant in his US case, Maria De Leon, was sentenced to time already served after admitting she participated in an immigration fraud scheme that benefited members of KJC.
According to her plea agreement, De Leon knowingly filed immigration petitions based on sham marriages arranged to help church members remain in the United States. She acknowledged submitting fraudulent family-based immigration petitions despite knowing the marriages were not legitimate.
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Still allowed to run
Quiboloy was allowed to run for Senate in the 2025 midterm elections despite his incarceration and garnered 5,667,438 votes.
Police said following Quiboloy’s arrest that his alleged victims were told they were having sex with the “spirit of God” and were threatened not to tell anyone on pain of being hunted down by “angels of death.”
READ: Quiboloy: KJC Angels of Death a lie, no idea on vigilante connection
Quiboloy’s church said at the time that members had “freedom of choice” and thus “anything that happens to you … is your own voluntary will or choice.”
The powerful sect claims millions of followers and owns a television network.
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President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said in 2024 that the government was not yet looking to extradite Quiboloy because it was “focusing on the cases filed in the Philippines.” —WITH REPORTS FROM AP, AFP AND INQUIRER RESEARCH
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