A Filipino pastor wanted in the United States for child sex trafficking has asked a guarantee of no extradition in exchange for his surrender to Philippine authorities, where he is facing additional accusations.
The Philippines-based Kingdom of Jesus Christ church was founded by Apollo Quiboloy, a self-proclaimed “Son of God” and ally of former President Rodrigo Duterte.
In 2021, the US Justice Department charged Quiboloy with sex trafficking of girls and women aged 12 to 25 to work as personal assistants, or “pastorals” who were allegedly obliged to have sex with him.
Last month, the Philippine Justice Department charged Quiboloy with sexual abuse.
Quiboloy and five other defendants have also been charged with qualified human trafficking and various forms of child abuse.
A court has issued a warrant for Quiboloy’s arrest.
Quiboloy requested a formal commitment from the Philippine government that “there will be no American interference and no extraordinary rendition” if he surrendered to face charges in the Philippines.
“You will not see me unless you provide the guarantee I am asking for. Go ahead and search me,” Quiboloy urged in a voice tape posted on Saturday to the YouTube page of his church’s television network Sonshine Media.
“I’d rather die at the hands of the Filipinos, for my blood to spill here in my country, than to die at the hands of the American authorities who are overseas, in their country.”
Quiboloy’s church is located in the southern city of Davao, Duterte’s stronghold.
The exiled pastor claimed his circumstances in the Philippines “got complicated” once President Ferdinand Marcos took office in 2022.
He said that Marcos’ government “conspired” with the FBI and CIA to “hand me over to the Americans”.
If his requests were granted, Quiboloy stated, “I will appear and deal with all of those cases, no matter where you bring them, here in the Philippines.”
US prosecutors indicted Quiboloy in 2021, alleging, among other things, that girls and young women were pushed into having sex with him under threats of “eternal damnation”.
The Philippine Justice Department did not immediately react to an AFP request for comment on Quiboloy’s demands.