US Seeks Extradition of Pastor Quiboloy from Philippines; DOJ Says No Formal Request Received

The United States government has formally requested the Philippines to extradite religious leader Pastor Apollo Quiboloy, who is facing sex trafficking and racketeering charges in the US, Philippine Ambassador to Washington Jose Manuel "Babe" Romualdez has said. "The formal request has been transmitted to the Department of Justice," Romualdez said. Quiboloy was arrested in September 2024 on charges of violation of Republic Act 7610 or the Special Protection of Children Against Abuse, Exploitation, and Discrimination Act. He is also facing a non-bailable qualified human trafficking charge under Section 4(a) of Republic Act No. 9208, as amended, before a Pasig court. Quiboloy, who pleaded not guilty shortly after his August 2024 arrest, is currently detained at the Pasig City Jail. US prosecutors in November 2021 announced sex-trafficking charges, alleging that girls and women were coerced to have sex with Quiboloy, the founder of the religious group Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KOJC), and other church officials, including two US-based church administrators. The 2021 US indictment claims that victims were between the ages of 12 and 25 and recruited as personal assistants for Quiboloy to prepare his meals, clean his residence, and give him massages, aside from engaging in sex. Federal prosecutors in Los Angeles said the indictment expanded on allegations made in 2020 against three church administrators. It charged nine defendants with participating in a scheme in which church members were brought to the US using fraudulently obtained visas and forced to solicit donations to a bogus children's charity. Asked for comment regarding the extradition request, Department of Justice spokesman Polo Martinez said, "As of this time, the DOJ has not officially received any document indicating that the United States has formally requested the extradition of Apollo Quiboloy." "Under the Philippine–U.S. Extradition Treaty and applicable law, the DFA would be the first point of contact for such a request. Initial inquiries may therefore be directed to the DFA," Martinez said. The US Embassy did not reply immediately to requests for comment. Quiboloy, a close ally of former President Rodrigo Duterte, was allowed to run for Senate in the country's 2025 midterm elections despite his incarceration and garnered 5,667,438 votes. Police said following his arrest that Quiboloy's 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." Quiboloy's Kingdom of Jesus Christ 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 religious sect claims millions of followers in the mainly Catholic Asian nation and owns a television network. Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos 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 a report from Agence France Presse, NB/ VDV, GMA News