Apollo Quiboloy caught by authorities — Abalos
MANILA, Philippines (Updated 7:19 p.m.) — Doomsday preacher and fugitive Apollo Quiboloy has been captured by authorities, Interior Secretary Benjamin Abalos Jr. said on Sunday night, September 8.
In a Facebook post, Abalos wrote in all caps: “Nahuli na po si Apollo Quiboloy (Apollo Quiboloy has been caught).”
A photo of Quiboloy was attached to one of Abalos’ Facebook posts.
Quiboloy is wanted for several counts of sexual abuse and human trafficking. He is also on the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation’s most wanted list.
This development comes after chaos in Davao City broke out as the Philippine National Police tried to serve an arrest warrant.
In an interview with the media, PNP Region 11 director Brig. Gen. Nicolas Torre III said that it was better to ask Abalos for more details.
Torre said that Quiboloy came from Davao. An undisclosed amount of police personnel were tasked to escort him to a flight.
Torre, however, did not disclose where the flight was headed.
"There's no doubt that he's here," Torre said on Quiboloy's whereabouts.
Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KOJC) practitioners have slammed police efforts to serve Quiboloy's warrant, citing an overkill in the number of police personnel who are searching for one person.
Abalos has yet to divulge further details about the conditions of Quiboloy's arrest.
For the better part of the year, Quiboloy has gone underground, evading both the US and Philippine authorities.
In March, the Senate issued an arrest order against Quiboloy due to his failure to attend multiple senate hearings on the alleged cases of rape and human trafficking against the KOJC.
A month later in April, a Davao court issued a warrant of arrest against Quiboloy over charges of child abuse.
A Pasig City court also issued a warrant of arrest for Quiboloy in the same month. Since August, tensions between the KOJC practitioners and the PNP in Davao have been steadily rising, with police forces remaining in the area for 16 days on the lookout for Quiboloy.
The PNP was adamant that Quiboloy was hiding out in the KOJC compound, saying that he may be in an underground bunker.
Both Abalos and Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla have insisted that this was a legitimate operation. No less than President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. himself has also challenged Quiboloy to surface, saying that the doomsday preacher is in no position to make demands for his surrender.
This is a developing story.
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