Standoff as police close in on ‘Son of God’ pastor

A standoff has erupted in the Philippines as thousands of police officers descended on a sprawling religious compound in search of an influential pastor who has been accused of child sex trafficking amongst other crimes.

Police say they will not leave until they have found Apollo Quiboloy, who calls himself the “appointed Son of God”.

He is believed to be hiding inside his 30 hectare (75 acres) complex, which houses some 40 buildings, including a cathedral, a school and even a hangar.

Authorities have been on the hunt for Mr Quiboloy for months. He had earlier said he would “not be caught alive”.

Police raided the Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KOJC) compound late on Saturday, with reports saying they later used tear gas against Mr Quiboloy’s followers who had become “unruly and violent”, Davao police spokesperson Major Catherina dela Rey told news outlet Rappler.

Hundreds of Mr Quiboloy’s followers have blocked parts of a major highway in an attempt to disrupt traffic to the compound.

They maintain his innocence, saying allegations against him are fabricated.

One supporter of the group died from a heart attack during the police raid.

Police believe Mr Quiboloy is hiding in an underground bunker based on equipment that is believed to be able to detect people behind walls based on their heartbeat, said Maj dela Rey.

Mr Quiboloy’s KOJC claims to have seven million followers and he has grown his ministry through television, radio and social media.

He is also politically influential and serves as spiritual adviser to former President Rodrigo Duterte, whose family rules Davao city politics.

Since Mr Duterte stepped down in 2022, authorities have been pursuing charges against Mr Quiboloy.

He is accused of trafficking his followers to the US to solicit donations for bogus charities. He also allegedly required his female followers, some underage, to have sex with him as a religious duty.

He has said that the “devil” was behind his legal woes. He has also said that he does not want the US Federal Bureau of Investigation to “meddle” in his case.

Mr Quiboloy said in April that he was “preserving” himself by hiding from authorities.

“I am not hiding from the charges because I am guilty. That’s not true. I am just protecting myself,” he said.

Mr Quiboloy is the leader of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ, a Christian sect that claims to have seven million members.

He claims to have heard God whisper to him “I will use you” while attending an event by American pastor Billy Graham in South Korea in 1973. This led him to set up the KOJC in the Philippines’ Davao in 1985.

Mr Quiboloy preaches from a glass table that is set against giant photographs of his lush hilltop estate called the “Garden of Eden Restored”.

When he is not in Davao, he has been seen travelling on his private jet.

His rise to national prominence has mirrored that of Mr Duterte. Both started in Davao, where the former president served as mayor.

When Mr Duterte was elected president in 2016, Mr Quiboloy’s profile rose even higher. But that started to diminish when Mr Duterte left office in 2022.

Outside of his alliance with Mr Duterte, Mr Quiboloy has also gained considerable clout by endorsing politicians during elections.

Mr Quiboloy was a supporter of one of Duterte’s predecessors, Gloria Arroyo.

When he endorsed Arroyo’s choice of successor in the 2010 elections, Mr Quiboloy claimed to have seen the candidate’s name in a vision that included then US President Barack Obama.

In the Philippines, leaders of religious organisations and sects become politically powerful when they direct their followers to vote as a bloc, analysts say.

Electoral contests can get so cutthroat that some candidates believe the endorsement of leaders like Mr Quiboloy could make or break their campaign.

“Politics in the Philippines is very much a moral exercise. Therefore, voters look to their religious leaders for guidance,” political scientist Cleve Arguelles told BBC News.

In 2021, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) charged Mr Quiboloy with sex trafficking of children, fraud and coercion and bulk cash smuggling.

The FBI said he trafficked girls and women from the Philippines to the US, where they are forced to solicit money for a bogus charity.

He also required his female personal assistants, who are called “pastorals”, to have sex with him, the FBI said.

In January 2022, the FBI released a wanted poster seeking information on Mr Quiboloy’s whereabouts.

Last March, the Philippines DOJ filed human trafficking and sexual harassment charges against Mr Quiboloy, for allegedly abusing a teenage woman in 2011.

Courts in both the US and Philippine have issued warrants for his arrest.

Mr Quiboloy has denied the charges against him and has accused US authorities of pre-judging his case.