Philippines-based megachurch pastor Apollo Quiboloy turned himself in to police on Sunday at his 74-acre church compound in Davao City after a two-week standoff seeking answers to child sex trafficking and other charges.
“The Filipino people are informed that Pastor Apollo C. Quiboloy has decided to surrender to the PNP/AFP. He does not want the lawless violence to continue on the KOJC premises and could not tolerate for even a second the suffering his congregants have been going through for days,” explained the pastor's lawyer, Israelito Torreon. statement.
Quiboloy and his supporters deny the charges of child abuse and human trafficking. FBI's Most Wanted List He was also charged with similar offences in the United States.
2021, U.S. indictment Department of Justice President Quiboloy and two of his senior officials were indicted on charges of trafficking young women and girls in the United States and forcing them to have sex with the president under threat of “eternal punishment.”
Quiboloy also claimed having sex with her was a “privilege” and “God's will.”
At the end of last month, Approximately 2,000 local police officers They tried to arrest Quiboloy in the Kingdom of Jesus Christ, but investigators had difficulty locating him as he was reportedly hiding in an underground bunker.
During the investigation, PNP officers discovered an elaborate network of rooms, including numerous bedrooms, in the multi-level basement of his mansion located within the church compound. Daily TribuneA confidential police source told the paper that investigators believe the basement is where Quiboloy held women against their will and abused them.
“Pastor Apollo Quiboloy's heart was broken as arrest warrants were transformed into permits to turn his beloved KOJC facilities into police camps, the sacred KOJC Cathedral was desecrated, a JMC school was turned into a mining site, his followers were targeted in brutal acts that left one of them dead, dozens injured, many arbitrarily arrested and vehicles unilaterally confiscated – a series of heart-rending and mind-boggling events,” Torreong said in a statement.
“He has therefore resolved to make the ultimate sacrifice by surrendering himself to the PNP and AFP, even though he has the right to await the outcome of the legal remedies being pursued by his lawyers,” he added.
As Christian Post As previously reported, the megachurch pastor claims to have 4 million tithe-paying members in the Philippines and another 2 million overseas. His television station has a global audience of 600 million. He is also a longtime friend of former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte.
In a 2010 interview ABC NewsKibori said everyone in the kingdom is welcome to share in his wealth and stay in his mansion, adding that in 1983, God revealed to him that he should own a jet plane, and that even if one is poor, one should embrace whatever God gives them in life.
“If what I have is not God's will, then take it away,” he said at the time. “It is God's will that we follow. … If God wants me to live like a mouse, if he wants me to live a wealthy life, if he wants me to live a poor life, it doesn't matter to me. Put me there, and as long as it's God's will, I'm happy.”
Related article: What you need to know about megachurch pastor Apollo Quiboloy's child sex trafficking accusations
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