‘Most wanted’

Apollo Carreon Quiboloy, the self-proclaimed “appointed son of God’’ and influential leader of a religious sect based in Davao City, has just earned another, more earthly, moniker: “Most wanted by the FBI,” the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The FBI on Jan. 31 published a wanted poster seeking information leading to the arrest of Quiboloy on charges of “conspiracy to engage in sex trafficking by force, fraud and coercion, and sex trafficking of children; sex trafficking by force, fraud, and coercion; conspiracy, [and] bulk cash smuggling.”

Wanted posters were also issued by the FBI for Teresita Dandan and Helen Panilag, identified as top officials of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ, The Name Above Every Name (KOJC), which Quiboloy founded in 1985.

Information posted on the FBI’s website (https://www.fbi.gov) states that Quiboloy “is wanted for his alleged participation in a labor trafficking scheme that brought church members to the United States, via fraudulently obtained visas, and forced the members to solicit donations for a bogus charity, donations that actually were used to finance church operations and the lavish lifestyles of its leaders. Members who proved successful at soliciting for the church allegedly were forced to enter into sham marriages or obtain fraudulent student visas to continue soliciting in the United States year-round.” The site added: “Furthermore, it is alleged that females were recruited to work as personal assistants, or ‘pastorals,’ for Quiboloy and that victims prepared his meals, cleaned his residences, gave him massages and were required to have sex with [him] in what the pastorals called ‘night duty.’”

In November 2021, a US federal grand jury indicted Quiboloy and his officials for the sex-trafficking of girls as young as 12, for forcing young women to have sex with him under threat of “eternal damnation,” as well as immigration offenses. Quiboloy, who is said to be holed up in his safe haven in Davao, had branded the charges as lies instigated by the “Devil.”

With no less than the FBI now after him, it looks like the walls are closing in on the eccentric Quiboloy, a known friend of and spiritual adviser to President Duterte, who had previously admitted that Quiboloy had gifted him with real estate properties and cars and allowed him use of the latter’s private jet.

His association with Mr. Duterte has given Quiboloy an untouchable image, with his influence extending to politics. This mantle of protection allowed him unbridled freedom to conduct his religious and commercial enterprise, which includes a 75,000-seating capacity indoor stadium currently being built in Davao City. His assets in the US reportedly include a multimillion mansion in the rich enclave in Calabasas, California, luxury cars, an $18 million private plane. The Los Angeles branch of KOJC alone collected some $20 million in donations from 2014 to mid-2019, according to authorities.

Last month, the pastor’s TV station Sonshine Media was among three firms owned by the President’s allies to be given the radio frequencies parceled from the spectrum of ABS-CBN, the Lopez-owned network shuttered by the government for alleged tax violations.

But now that Quiboloy is in the crosshairs of the US legal system, he might just prove too hot to handle. The sex trafficking of children is a very grave criminal offense anywhere in the world and Quiboloy is bound to face unflinching prosecution in the US should the Philippine judicial system prove too weak and deferential to the “Owner of the Universe.”

Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra has issued a nuanced statement, pointing out that extraditing any Filipino national to a foreign country must be done in accordance with due process. So far, the US has not requested extradition. But amid the grand jury’s indictment in November last year, Guevarra had said that there would be no special treatment for Quiboloy and that the Department of Justice, “will perform its mandate under the law, regardless of the persons involved.”

As Quiboloy is expected to use all his imagined powers — divine or otherwise — to prevent his extradition and prosecution, Guevarra’s assurance is a step in the right direction.

With just five months left, the Duterte administration might just sit out this embarrassing case which can drag on for many years. Which leaves the next administration to deal with this quandary. When the time comes, the best recourse is to cooperate with the prosecution to give Quiboloy his day in court, while allowing his victims a chance to attain justice.

Last week, before the FBI wanted posters were released, Quiboloy was shown endorsing the tandem of presidential contender Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. and his running mate, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte, the President’s daughter. It is a discomfiting scene, but depending on the outcome of the May elections, Quiboloy might yet find himself within reach of the law in this world.