Apollo Quiboloy

Apollo Carreon Quiboloy (locally [kɪboˈlɔɪ]; born April 25, 1950)[lower-alpha 1] is a Filipino pastor and church leader of the Philippines-based Restorationist church called the Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KJC).[3][4][5] Previously a member of the United Pentecostal Church, he founded the KJC in 1985, and has made claims that he is "the Appointed Son of God" as well as being "the Owner of the Universe".[6][7]

In this Philippine name, the middle name or maternal family name is Carreon and the surname or paternal family name is Quiboloy.
Apollo Quiboloy
Quiboloy's picture on the FBI wanted notice
TitleExecutive Pastor of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ
Personal
Born (1950-04-25) April 25, 1950
Dumanlas, Buhangin, Davao City, Philippines
ReligionChristian
DenominationRestorationist
ChurchKingdom of Jesus Christ
Senior posting
Based inBuhangin, Pan-Philippine Highway, Davao City, Philippines
Period in office1985–present
PredecessorPosition established
Websitewww.apolloquiboloy.com

In November 2021, prosecutors in California announced sex trafficking charges against Quiboloy, alleging that he and several others had sexually abused female church members aged 12 to 25 in exchange for privileges as well as avoiding "eternal damnation".[8][9] Many of Quiboloy's assets have been described as ill-gotten.[10]

Early life

Quiboloy was born on April 25, 1950, in Buhangin, Davao City, specifically in the area of Dumanlas, and is the youngest of nine children of Pampangans José Quiboloy y Turla and María Carreón y Quinto (born December 28, 1913).[11][12][13] Both his parents were natives of Lubao, Pampanga, and had migrated to Davao City following the end of the Second World War to find better opportunities.[14] Quiboloy spent his formative years in Pampanga before moving back to Davao.[14]

Quiboloy was a member of the United Pentecostal Church, a Oneness Pentecostal denomination, until he established the Kingdom of Jesus Christ church.[15] Quiboloy's father, José, was already a Protestant (a member of the Christian and Missionary Alliance) but converted to Oneness Pentecostalism with his four sons. They all became preachers and leaders in the United Pentecostal Church of the Philippines (UPCP), the largest Filipino Oneness Pentecostal Church, which is affiliated to the U.S.-based United Pentecostal Church International. Apollo became president of the powerful UPCP youth organization in 1974, but was expelled from UPCP in 1979 for unorthodox teachings. He came back and was accepted back into the fold in 1980 as pastor of the Agdao Church in Davao City, one of the historical UPCP churches. In 1985, Apollo was put again under investigation by UPCP for his arrogant attitude towards other pastors. Rather than submitting to trial, he left UPCP with some 15 followers on September 1, 1985, and started his own denomination, later known as the Kingdom of Jesus Christ.[16]

Church

Quiboloy is the founding leader and Executive Pastor of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ, The Name Above Every Name founded on September 1, 1985.[17] He began preaching in the slums of Villamor, Agdao, Davao City with only 15 members. He has received critical responses to his claims of being the "Appointed Son of God".[18][19][20]

The sect's main Cathedral is located along Buhangin National Highway in Davao City.

His followers refer to their community as a "Kingdom Nation." They claim about 2 million "Kingdom citizens" abroad and 4 million in the Philippines.[13] On weekdays, members hold bible sessions and prayer services. On Sundays, a "Global Worship" is held at the Cathedral in Buhangin District. In 2000, Quiboloy founded José María College, named after his parents.[13][21]

Quiboloy has claimed possession of divine powers, including stopping the 2019 Cotabato earthquakes at his command, and has said that the public should thank him for the act.[22] He has publicly said that he did not do the same to stop the onslaught of Typhoon Kammuri (Tisoy) in response to those critical of his earlier claim in stopping the Cotabato earthquakes.[23]

Media holdings

His ministry had a global television channel, the Sonshine Media Network International (President and CEO), and 17 radio stations in the Philippines. It also has two newspapers, Pinas and Sikat.;[13] the Pinas is circulated weekly for followers in North and South America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Australia, New Zealand and Asia.

Involvement in sports

In June 2014, Quiboloy founded Sonshine Sports Management, the newly created sports management group based in Davao City. SSMI organized different boxing and basketball events within the city.[24]

Political involvement
Quiboloy (right) conversing with Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte (left) while on board a PAL plane bound for Davao City.

Quiboloy anointed Gilbert Teodoro as the next president in the 2010 Philippine presidential election. "Tonight let it be known to all Filipinos that the Almighty Father has appointed the president of this nation. He is no other than Gilbert 'Gibo' Teodoro", Quiboloy told thousands of cheering followers.[25] Teodoro finished fourth in the election with 4,095,839 votes (or 11.33%) to which Quiboloy responded, "I myself am a little bit disturbed with the reports of fraud and cheating in the last elections. Even I am asking where did the votes of the Kingdom go? What happened to our votes when we were supposed to be solid for Gibo?"[26]

In the 2016 national elections, Quiboloy and the members of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ endorsed the presidential candidacy of the pastor's close friend, Davao City mayor Rodrigo Duterte and his running mate Senator Alan Peter Cayetano.[27][28] Quiboloy also lent his private jet and helicopter to be used in Duterte's presidential campaign.[29]

Controversies

Allegations of brainwashing by a former church member

Quiboloy has been sued by a former church member for allegedly brainwashing and holding her young daughter against her will.[30][31]

Dispute with the New People's Army

The communist New People's Army (NPA) has accused Quiboloy of being behind the massacre of K'lata-Bagobo leader Datu Domingo Diarog and his family on April 29, 2008, for allegedly refusing to sell two hectares of their property for ₱50,000 to Quiboloy and his sect.

The property is within the 700-hectare ancestral domain claimed by the Bagobo people in Tugbok and is adjacent to Quiboloy's walled "prayer mountain" in Tamayong.

Diarog's widow said followers of Quiboloy had threatened to evict them from the land and her relatives were even offered a ₱20,000 bounty for Diarog's head.[32]

Quiboloy, however, said the charges were "totally false and baseless, if not ridiculous."[33]

While Quiboloy has branded the rebels "mga anak ni Satanas" ("Satan's offspring"), the NPA has declared him a "warlord in the service of the Arroyo administration's policies against the peasants and indigenous peoples."[34][35]

Police investigator Ireneo Dalogdog, head of the Tugbok police office, said he had been receiving reports that Diarog was being harassed by armed men associated with Quiboloy, and that Diarog's farmhouse had earlier been razed three times.[32]

2020 ABS-CBN shutdown
See also: ABS-CBN franchise renewal controversy

In November 2019, Vice Ganda on It's Showtime! satirized Quiboloy's claims of stopping the series of earthquakes in Mindanao by exclaiming, "Stop!". Ganda jokingly challenged Quiboloy to also stop the country's longest running television series Ang Probinsyano, which had been airing on ABS-CBN for at least five years at that point.[36][37] Quiboloy accepted the challenge and declared that in four months, the whole network's operations would shut down as well.[38][39][40]

On May 5, 2020, the National Telecommunications Commission legally ordered ABS-CBN to cease its television and radio broadcasting operations after their 25-year broadcast franchise expired the previous day. The station then officially signed off at 7:52 pm local time the same day.[41] More than two months later, on July 10, 2020, the House of Representatives of the Philippines rejected the new ABS-CBN franchise bid after a 70-11 vote against it.[42][43][44]

Rape and sex trafficking accusations, indictments

Prosecutors on behalf of the United States Department of Justice indicted Quiboloy and other church members on charges of sex trafficking on November 11, 2021. The indictment charged him with allegedly coercing girls and young women to have sex with him, as well as allegedly running a sex trafficking operation that threatened alleged victims. Among the claimed victims are children as young as twelve. According to the indictment, Quiboloy allegedly threatened them with "eternal damnation" and physical abuse, through the fraudulent California charity "Children's Joy". According to the Department of Justice, underage girls were allegedly forced into so-called "night duties", where they were allegedly sexually abused by the pastor.[9] Prosecutors have stated that they will also retrieve Quiboloy's US assets originating from ill-gotten wealth, alleging that he used church donations to pay for his lavish lifestyle.[10][45][46] On February 5, 2022, the Federal Bureau of Investigation released a wanted poster for Quiboloy.[47][48]

See also

Notes
  1. A Federal Bureau of Investigation listed 1947 or 1950 as his birth year.[1] An SMNI News Channel posted Quiboloy's 71st birthday wish on April 27, 2021 on Facebook, thus Quiboloy was born in 1950.[2]

References
  1. "APOLLO CARREON QUIBOLOY". Federal Bureau of Investigation. Archived from the original on 5 February 2022. Retrieved 6 March 2022.
  2. "Pastor Apollo C. Quiboloy thanks well-wishers on his 71st birthday". SMNI News. Archived from the original on 6 March 2022. Retrieved 6 March 2022.
  3. Cabreza, Vincent; Demetillo, Donna (August 26, 2005). "none". Philippine Daily Inquirer.
  4. Dacanay, Barbara Mae (May 4, 2010). "Arroyo welcomes church leader's poll support". gulfnews.com. Retrieved January 20, 2011.
  5. Padillo, Maya M (March 20, 2010). "Villar is my mother's choice, says Quiboloy". The Mindanao Daily Mirror. Retrieved January 20, 2011.
  6. "Kingdom of Jesus Christ.... FAQ". Archived from the original on February 24, 2011.
  7. "FAST FACTS: Who is Pastor Apollo Quiboloy, the 'Appointed Son of God'?". Rappler. 15 February 2018. Retrieved July 30, 2020.
  8. Andrew Kelly (19 November 2021). "U.S. announces sex-trafficking charges against Duterte's spiritual adviser". Reuters. Archived from the original on 19 November 2021. Retrieved 28 January 2022.
  9. "Apollo Quiboloy, founder of Kingdom of Jesus Christ church, indicted for sex trafficking". ABS-CBNnews.com. 19 November 2021. Archived from the original on 18 November 2021. Retrieved 19 November 2021.
  10. "US Authorities Eye Seizure of Pastor Quiboloy's Assets". Inquirer. November 21, 2021. Retrieved November 21, 2021.
  11. Official Website. "Pastor Apollo's birth and early years". Archived from the original on July 26, 2018. Retrieved July 26, 2018.
  12. Todd Cabrera Lucero. "The Pastor and the President". Retrieved May 19, 2016.
  13. "INQUIRER.net". INQUIRER.net. Archived from the original on 2013-02-21. Retrieved 2021-11-25.
  14. Gavilán, Jodesz (February 15, 2018). "Who Is Pastor Apollo Quiboloy, the "Appointed Son of God"?". Rappler.
  15. Hodgart, Kenny (October 7, 2016). "The Messiah friend of President Duterte". Asia Times. Retrieved December 9, 2016.
  16. King, Johnny Loye (2016). Spirit and Schism: A History of Oneness Pentecostalism in the Philippines (PhD thesis). University of Birmingham. pp. 192–194.
  17. "The Exodus from Religious Bondage - Pastor Apollo exited his previous denomination, taking with him all those who had accepted his message". Official Website. Archived from the original on July 26, 2018. Retrieved July 16, 2018.
  18. Estremera, Stella A (January 30, 2005). "Of appointed sons and the second coming". Cebu Sun Star. Philippines.
  19. Bagnol, Raquel C (July 23, 2005). "Couple charged with libel for branding Quiboloy's sect a 'cult'". Cebu Sun Star. Philippines.
  20. "Who is Pastor Apollo Quiboloy". Pastor Apollo Quiboloy. February 2, 2019. Retrieved March 19, 2019.
  21. "Who is Pastor Apollo Quiboloy - An Advocacy for Children". Pastor Apollo Quiboloy. February 2, 2019. Retrieved March 19, 2019.
  22. Galvez, Daphne (November 1, 2019). "Quiboloy: 'I yelled at the Mindanao quake to stop, it stopped'". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved March 9, 2020.
  23. "Pastor Quiboloy says he did not 'stop' Tisoy because of bashers". MSN. GMA News. Retrieved March 9, 2020.
  24. "Spiritual Leader Apollo Quiboloy Launches 'Revolution Excelence'". Davao Breaking News. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved December 18, 2015.
  25. Pastor Quiboloy anoints Teodoro, Philippine Daily Inquirer Archived May 6, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
  26. "Quiboloy: Where did our votes for Gibo go?, Philippine Star".
  27. Regalado, Edith (February 8, 2016). "Evangelist Quiboloy backs Duterte". The Philippine Star. Retrieved February 9, 2016.
  28. "Quiboloy endorses Duterte-Cayetano duo". ABS-CBN News. March 28, 2016. Archived from the original on March 28, 2016. Retrieved March 28, 2016.
  29. "Duterte using Quiboloy private jet; Davao bizmen funding rallies". ABS-CBN News. April 28, 2016. Retrieved February 20, 2018.
  30. "Philippine Daily Inquirer - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com.
  31. "Philippine Daily Inquirer - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com.
  32. Why did they kill the Bagobo datu?, Philippine Daily Inquirer Archived October 12, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
  33. News, G. M. A. "Killings, land dispute turn tribal village into virtual ghost town". GMA News Online.
  34. Slay of tribal leader stirs Pastor Quiboloy-NPA word war, Philippine Daily Inquirer Archived October 12, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
  35. Preacher, rebels exchange harsh words over killing Philippine Daily Inquirer Archived October 12, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
  36. Severo, Jan Milo (November 5, 2019). "Vice Ganda challenges Quiboloy to stop 'Ang Probinsyano,' EDSA traffic". The Philippine Star. Retrieved August 4, 2020.
  37. "Quiboloy says Vice Ganda prophesied ABS-CBN, 'Ang Probinsyano' to stop". www.philstar.com. Retrieved November 1, 2021.
  38. Severo, Jan Milo (November 11, 2019). "Quiboloy accepts Vice Ganda's challenge, praises 'Eat Bulaga'". The Philippine Star. Retrieved August 4, 2020.
  39. Vice Ganda challenges Quiboloy to stop 'Ang Probinsyano', retrieved May 6, 2021
  40. Nicart, Lyka (July 11, 2020). "Pastor Quiboloy recalls Vice Ganda's 'stop' joke amid ABS-CBN franchise denial". Latest Chika. Retrieved November 1, 2021.
  41. "'Premonition' of Pastor Quiboloy about ABS-CBN closure resurfaced online". www.msn.com. Retrieved July 3, 2020.
  42. "ABS-CBN franchise bid junked". Manila Bulletin. July 10, 2020. Retrieved July 10, 2020.
  43. Severo, Jan Milo. "Quiboloy says Vice Ganda prophesied ABS-CBN, 'Ang Probinsyano' to stop". Philstar.com. Retrieved November 1, 2021.
  44. Share; Twitter; Twitter; Twitter. "Duterte says ABS-CBN franchise renewal bid 'piece of garbage'". www.pna.gov.ph. Retrieved November 1, 2021. {{cite web}}: |last2= has generic name (help)
  45. Cohen, Rebecca. "A megachurch leader who calls himself 'The Appointed Son of God' threatened young girls with physical abuse and eternal damnation if they didn't have sex with him, prosecutors say". Insider.
  46. "Apollo Carreon Quiboloy, megachurch founder, charged with forcing women and girls into sex - The Washington Post".
  47. "APOLLO CARREON QUIBOLOY - FBI". Federal Bureau of Investigation. Retrieved 5 February 2022.
  48. "Quiboloy, 'top most wanted' na ng FBI" (in Tagalog). Philippine Star. Retrieved 8 February 2022.
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