Police in Philippines won’t leave megachurch compound until Apollo Quiboloy is arrested
The Philippine National Police remained resolute in their mission to arrest fugitive televangelist and Kingdom of Jesus Christ leader Apollo Quiboloy as they vowed to continue searching for him at his 74-acre compound Tuesday until they have him in custody for child abuse and human trafficking charges.
Col. Jean Fajardo, a spokesperson for the PNP, said in a report from Inquirer.net that the approximately 2,000 police officers who have been searching for the megachurch pastor at the Kingdom of Jesus Christ Compound in Davao City since Saturday will keep searching until the pastor is in custody despite ongoing protests from his followers.
“One to two days may not be enough for the search, and the PNP maintains that we are continuously following legal protocols,” Fajardo said.
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Davao Police Regional Office director, Brig. Gen. Nicolas Torre III, said Quiboloy is believed to be hiding in a bunker on the property.
As the police search for Quiboloy continues, a regional court in Davao City issued a temporary protection order in his favor, Rappler reported.
Judge Mario Duaves of the Regional Trial Court Branch 15 in Davao City ordered the PNP in the Davao Region to “immediately cease and desist from any act or omission that threatens the life, liberty, or security, as well as the properties, of the petitioners,” after an appeal by the lawyer for the Kingdom of Jesus Christ, Israelito Torreon, challenging the ongoing police operation on church property.
The court ruled that the police were violating the property rights of the church as well as their religious and academic rights.
“The PNP XI is hereby ordered to remove all barricades, barriers, or blockades that bar access to and from the subject compound and hinder petitioners’ religious, academic, and proprietary rights and the pursuit thereof by its officers and members within and surrounding the premises,” the order notes.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has defended the actions of the police who have been accused of human rights violations.
“What the police are doing is enforcing the warrant of arrest against Apollo Quiboloy. That’s all they’re doing,” he said.
Torreon insists, however, that the police operation inside the church’s compound is unlawful.
“We are politely demanding that the PNP cease and desist from this operation immediately because it is illegal and lacks any legal basis,” he said.
As the standoff between Quiboloy and the PNP continues into its fourth day, the megachurch pastor, who claims to have 4 million tithing followers in the Philippines, 2 million more overseas, and reaches 600 million viewers worldwide through his TV station, remains on the FBI’s Most Wanted list for a raft of crimes including sex trafficking and fraud.
He is a former member of the United Pentecostal Church but founded the Restorationism church in 1985 after he claimed to have received a calling from God. According to Asia Times, Quiboloy claims that God came to his mother in the form of a cloud after he was born, and declared, "That's my son."
An indictment from the Department of Justice in 2021 charged Quiboloy and two of his top administrators with trafficking young women and girls in the U.S. who were coerced into having sex with him under threats of “eternal damnation.” The controversial megachurch pastor allegedly claimed that sex with him was a “privilege” and “God’s will.”
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