MANILA, Philippines — The United States has formally requested the extradition of Filipino pastor Apollo Quiboloy, who faces sex-trafficking charges in the US, the Department of Foreign Affairs said Thursday.
The US government sent the extradition request to the Philippine Department of Justice through the DFA in July, DFA spokesperson Analyn Ratonel said.
“The Department of Foreign Affairs confirms it has received the United States Government’s request for the extradition of Apollo Quiboloy,” Ratonel said. “The DFA has endorsed the request to the DOJ.”
Philippine Ambassador to the United States Jose Manuel Romualdez also confirmed that US authorities had transmitted a formal request to the DOJ.
The US Embassy in Manila did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Quiboloy, founder of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ, faces human trafficking charges in the Philippines. Courts in Pasig and Quezon City also handle cases involving alleged sexual abuse of minors and maltreatment.
Philippine authorities arrested Quiboloy in Davao City in September 2024 after he went into hiding following court orders for his arrest. He pleaded not guilty and has remained detained at the Pasig City Jail.
The extradition request requires action from the Philippine courts handling his cases.
The DOJ said the Philippines could either defer Quiboloy’s extradition until his Philippine cases conclude or temporarily surrender him to the United States for trial, subject to legal requirements and conditions agreed upon by both governments.
DOJ spokesperson Polo Martinez said the DFA must first determine whether the request complies with the Philippines-US extradition treaty and other applicable laws.
Martinez cited Article 11 of the 1994 Philippines-US extradition treaty, which allows a country to temporarily surrender a person facing proceedings in both countries. Under the provision, the requesting country must return the person after the proceedings conclude, subject to conditions agreed upon by the two governments.
The Philippines can also postpone extradition until the person completes prosecution or serves a sentence, depending on the circumstances.
US federal prosecutors indicted Quiboloy in 2021 on charges including sex trafficking of children, sex trafficking through force, fraud and coercion, conspiracy, marriage fraud, money laundering, cash smuggling and visa fraud.
The indictment alleged that Quiboloy and others recruited girls and women ages 12 to 25 as personal assistants and subjected some of them to sexual abuse.
The FBI later placed Quiboloy on its Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list.
Quiboloy has denied the allegations and said critics and former members of his church fabricated the accusations.
In the Philippines, authorities filed a qualified human trafficking case against him before the Pasig Regional Trial Court in March 2024. Prosecutors also filed a case involving alleged sexual abuse of minors and maltreatment before a Davao court.
The Supreme Court transferred the Davao case to the Quezon City Regional Trial Court in May 2024.
Quiboloy, 76, founded the Kingdom of Jesus Christ in Davao City in 1985 and became a political ally and spiritual adviser to former President Rodrigo Duterte.
Philippine authorities have continued prosecuting Quiboloy despite his detention. He also ran for senator in the 2025 elections while incarcerated and received more than 5.6 million votes.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said in 2024 that his administration was focusing on the cases filed against Quiboloy in the Philippines rather than seeking his extradition.
