If the extradition of President Duterte’s spiritual adviser Apollo Carreon Quiboloy, founder of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KOJC), is sought by the United States government, the Philippine government will determine first if the charges are covered by the RP-US extradition treaty.
The study will be conducted jointly by the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), Guevarra said on Sunday, Nov. 21.
If the charges against Quiboloy are covered by the treaty, “the DOJ will file a petition for extradition before a Philippine court.”
“If granted, and the judgment (of the Philippine court) became final, the respondent (Quiboloy) may then be physically turned over to the requesting state for further legal proceedings,” he said.
Guevarra’s comment was sought after the US DOJ announced in its official website last Nov. 18 that Quiboloy has been indicted by a federal grand jury with sex trafficking along with other members of KOJC.
Aside from Quiboloy’s indictment in the US, a complaint was also filed against him last year before the Davao City Prosecutor’s Office for rape, child abuse, ill treatment under the Revised Penal Code (RPC), trafficking in persons through forced labor, and trafficking in persons through sexual abuse.
The charges had been dismissed by the prosecutor’s office but the complainant had appealed before the Office of the Secretary of Justice (OSEC).
Guevarra said “the pendency of the appeal before the OSEC is not an obstacle to extradition because there is no indictment in a Philippine court as yet.”
The US DOJ said Quiboloy and two co-defendants--Teresita Tolibas Dandan and Felina Salinas--have been “charged in count one of the superseding indictment, which alleges the sex trafficking conspiracy” and each “charged in at least three of five substantive counts of sex trafficking by force, fraud and coercion.”
Among other things, the US DOJ said: “These three defendants allegedly recruited females ranging from approximately 12 to 25 years of age to work as personal assistants, or ‘pastorals,’ for Quiboloy. The indictment states that the victims prepared Quiboloy’s meals, cleaned his residences, gave him massages and were required to have sex with Quiboloy in what the pastorals called ‘night duty.’ The indictment specifically mentions five female victims, three of whom were minors when the alleged sex trafficking began.”