Sonshine Media Network International (SMNI) honorary chairperson Apollo Quiboloy welcomes the Philippine Army top leadership during the Memorandum of Partnership Agreement at the SMNI Studio in Makati City on October 24, 2022. Philippine Army Handout photo

MANILA — Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KOJC) founder Pastor Apollo Quiboloy surrendered to Philippine authorities on Sunday, Sept. 8, after over 2 weeks of standoff in his compound and months of hiding from arrest warrants issued against him in April.

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Quiboloy's last public sighting and statement was earlier this year, when he accused the Marcos administration and the United States of a "conspiracy" to "eliminate" him.

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Aside from being wanted in the US for sex trafficking, fraud and other crimes, Quiboloy also faces arrest warrants from the Senate for skipping its probe on alleged abuse in the KOJC and from two courts for child and sexual abuse and human trafficking charges.

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Before being the subject of police operations, Quiboloy was a powerful religious and political figure based in Davao City, from where he oversaw a religious group with a claimed membership in the millions and who believe they are "the culmination of everything written in the word of God."

'APPOINTED SON OF GOD'

President Rodrigo Roa Duterte shares a light moment with the Kingdom of Jesus Christ, The Name Above Every Name Founder and Executive Pastor Apollo Quiboloy while on board a plane bound for Davao City on October 5, 2019. King Rodriguez, Presidential Photo

According to a profile of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the pastor used April 25, 1947 or 1950 as his birthdate, making him 73 or 77 years old.

According to his website that is now inaccessible but has been archived, Quiboloy was born the youngest of nine children to parents Jose Quiboloy and Maria Carreon, both from Lubao, Pampanga and who migrated to Mindanao.

They settled in a small sitio in the lower hills of Mount Apo, called Tamayong.

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When Carreon was giving birth to Apollo, she apparently "saw God sitting upon a cloud [and] He told her, 'That is my son.'"

After graduating from "Bible College" in 1972, Quiboloy began to preach "earnestly," earning him the nickname “preaching machine."

In 1974, Quiboloy claimed that "angels came up to the altar and poured anointing oil over his head, wetting his clothes from head to foot."

He told his followers: "Today, believe it or not, God has anointed me.”

In 1985, Quiboloy left his old church and founded Kingdom of Jesus Christ on September 1, 1985 with only 15 followers.

Since then, KOJC has amassed millions of followers in the Philippines and abroad.  

KOJC 'SCHEME'

A huge number of members of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ block the national highway of Buhangin, Davao City on August 25, 2024. Ryan Evangelista, ABS-CBN News

In 2018, Quiboloy's church and their operations in the US started to get the attention of authorities.

Quiboloy was accused of 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. The donations were allegedly used to "finance church operations and the lavish lifestyles of its leaders."

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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.

"It was also 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," the FBI noted.

On November 10, 2021, a US federal warrant was issued against Quiboloy after he was indicted for conspiracy to engage in sex trafficking by force, fraud and coercion and sex trafficking of children among other charges.

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