How did a popular Philippine televangelist land on the FBI’s most-wanted list?

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How did a popular Philippine televangelist land on the FBI’s most-wanted list?

2024-09-09 21:09 Last Updated At：21:10

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — In his heyday, Apollo Carreon Quiboloy was one of the most influential religious leaders and televangelists in the Philippines. Proclaiming himself as the “appointed son of God,” he also was a political kingmaker who backed former President Rodrigo Duterte.

An expanded U.S. indictment in 2021 charged him with having sex with women and underage girls and sex trafficking by force, among other crimes. He's facing similar criminal complaints in the Philippines, where he went into hiding this year.

Surrounded by heavily armed police, the 74-year-old preacher and four co-accused surrendered Sunday in his religious stronghold in the south. They were presented Monday to the press in orange detainee shirts and face covers with top officials warning on nationwide TV that “no one is above the law."

Here’s what we know about Quiboloy:

According to most accounts, Quiboloy's preaching started to gain attention in 1985, when he founded the Kingdom of Jesus Christ church, which would later claim to have 6 million mostly Filipino members in about 200 countries, including in the United States. Not much is known about how Quiboloy managed to raise the funds to build his empire, which included what many regarded as his real kingdom in Davao — a 30-hectare (75-acre) complex with a cathedral, a huge stadium and an aircraft hangar with a taxiway leading to Davao’s international airport. He founded a TV and radio network and religious charities in the Philippines and abroad that helped build his image as a popular televangelist.

According to the U.S. indictment, Quiboloy also maintained large residences in California, Las Vegas and Hawaii.

At the peak of his influence, aspirants would fly to Davao to seek his electoral endorsement. In the 2016 presidential elections, Quiboloy backed Duterte, his close friend whom he also served as a spiritual adviser. Duterte had appeared at times with Quiboloy on the religious leader’s TV and radio programs, where the then-president openly talked about his deadly crackdown on illegal drugs.

The killings of thousands of mostly poor drug suspects under Duterte’s administration have been condemned by Western governments and human rights groups and are being investigated by the International Criminal Court as a possible crime against humanity. Duterte has denied authorizing the killings but has openly threatened drug dealers with death.

Quiboloy has made outrageous claims that sparked questions about his character but endeared him to his fanatical followers. In 2019, he claimed that he stopped a major earthquake from hitting the southern Philippines.

U.S. federal prosecutors announced charges against Quiboloy in 2021 for allegedly having sex with women and underage girls who faced threats of abuse and “eternal damnation” unless they catered to the self-proclaimed “son of God.” The allegations were made by former followers of Quiboloy.

The expanded indictment contained an array of charges, including conspiracy, sex trafficking of children, sex trafficking by force, fraud and coercion, marriage fraud, money laundering, cash smuggling and visa fraud.

Quiboloy and eight other defendants were charged with “participating in a labor trafficking scheme that brought church members to the United States, via fraudulently obtained visas, and forced the members to solicit donations for a bogus charity ... donations that actually were used to finance church operations and the lavish lifestyles of its leaders."

They were accused of “recruiting women and girls, typically 12 to 25 years old, as ‘pastorals,’ who cooked his meals, cleaned his houses, massaged him and traveled with him around the world. Some also had sex with Quiboloy on scheduled `night duty,' including some minors such as a 15-year-old girl,” according to the indictment.

A federal warrant for Quiboloy’s arrest was issued in November 2021. He landed on the FBI’s most-wanted list, his face splashed on the agency’s posters of fugitives.

In the Philippines, Quiboloy has been charged with violating a law protecting children from abuse, exploitation and discrimination in one court and human trafficking in another, after a number of former followers filed complaints.

Quiboloy and his co-accused and their lawyers have denied any wrongdoing. They said they were ready to answer the charges in court. The raft of allegations, they said, was fabricated by critics and former members who were removed from his religious group.

Early this year, Quiboloy went into hiding after a Philippine court ordered the arrest of him and several others on suspicion of child and sexual abuse and human trafficking. The Philippine Senate separately ordered Quiboloy’s arrest for refusing to appear in public committee hearings that were looking into criminal allegations against him.

On Aug. 24, more than 2,000 police officers, backed by riot squads, raided his religious complex in Davao in a chaotic operation that saw with many of his followers staging noisy protests, complaining of an “overkill” and proclaiming his innocence. Duterte and his family criticized the massive raid, which included police equipment that could detect people hiding in underground tunnels.

The breakthrough in the search for him came on Sunday, when police gave a 24-hour ultimatum for Quiboloy to give himself up or else they would again raid a Bible school building, where the preacher was believed to hiding. Before nightfall, Quiboloy surrendered with four others and were flown to Manila, where they were locked up in a heavily secured detention center at the police headquarters.

“He could not bear to witness a second longer the sufferings that his flock was experiencing for many days,” his lawyer, Israelito Torreon, said of Quiboloy's surrender.

Quiboloy and his co-accused were briefly presented to the press Monday but the televangelist, known for his long sermons, did not speak. Interior Secretary Benhur Abalos and national police chief Gen. Rommel Francisco Marbil warned that the influential preacher's arrest showed that in the Philippines, “no one is above the law."

The United States was expected to request the extradition of Quiboloy and his co-accused at some point but President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said they have to first face justice in the Philippines.

Quiboloy, Marcos said, would be treated like any other detainee and receive no special treatment.

'All good here' was 1 of the final texts sent from the doomed Titan submersible, hearing reveals

2024-09-17 00:36 Last Updated At：00:40

Among the last words heard from the crew of an experimental submersible headed for the wreck of the Titanic were “all good here,” according to a visual re-creation of the journey of the Titan before it imploded, killing all five on board.

The U.S. Coast Guard presented the animation Monday on the first day of what is expected to be a two-week hearing on the causes of the implosion. Crew aboard the Titan were communicating via text messages with staff aboard the support ship Polar Prince, according to the presentation.

The crew lost contact after an exchange of texts about the submersible's depth and weight as it descended. The Polar Prince then sent repeated messages asking if the Titan could still see the ship on its onboard display. One of Titan’s final responses, which became spotty as it descended, was “all good here.”

The Titan imploded on June 18, 2023, setting off a worldwide debate about the future of private undersea exploration.

The Titan was left exposed to the elements while in storage for seven months in 2022 and 2023, Coast Guard representatives said in their initial remarks Monday. The hull was also never reviewed by any third parties as is standard procedure, they said. That and the submersible's unconventional design subjected the Titan to scrutiny in the undersea exploration community.

The hearing’s first witness, OceanGate’s former engineering director, Tony Nissen, testified Monday that the Titan was struck by lightning during a test mission in 2018, and that might have compromised its hull. Nissen said he was fired in 2019 when he wouldn’t let the submersible go to the Titanic, and he told Rush the submersible was “not working like we thought it would.”

Nissen said the submersible later went through other tests and adjustments before its subsequent dives to the Titanic. However, he testified that he was asked to pilot the submersible and replied: “I’m not getting in it.”

Nissen added that Rush could be difficult to work for and was often very concerned with costs and project schedules, among other issues. He said Rush would fight for what he wanted, which often changed day to day. He added that he tried to keep his clashes with Rush behind closed doors so that others in the company wouldn’t be aware.

“Most people would eventually just back down to Stockton,” he said.

The ongoing Marine Board of Investigation is the highest level of marine casualty investigation conducted by the Coast Guard. When the hearing concludes, recommendations will be submitted to the Coast Guard's commandant. The National Transportation Safety Board is also conducting an investigation.

“There are no words to ease the loss endured by the families impacted by this tragic incident,” said Jason Neubauer of the Coast Guard Office of Investigations, who led the hearing. “But we hope that this hearing will help shed light on the cause of the tragedy and prevent anything like this from happening again.”

Among those killed was Stockton Rush, co-founder of OceanGate, the Washington state company that owned the Titan. The company suspended operations after the implosion.

Also scheduled to speak were the company's former finance director, Bonnie Carl; and former contractor Tym Catterson.

Some key OceanGate representatives are not scheduled to testify. They include Rush's widow, Wendy Rush, who was the company's communications director.

The Coast Guard does not comment on the reasons for not calling specific individuals to a particular hearing during ongoing investigations, said Melissa Leake, a spokesperson for the Coast Guard. She added that it's common for a Marine Board of Investigation to “hold multiple hearing sessions or conduct additional witness depositions for complex cases.”

Scheduled to appear later in the hearing are OceanGate co-founder Guillermo Sohnlein; former operations director, David Lochridge; and former scientific director, Steven Ross, according to a list compiled by the Coast Guard. Numerous guard officials, scientists, and government and industry officials are also expected to testify. The U.S. Coast Guard subpoenaed witnesses who were not government employees, Leake said.

OceanGate has no full-time employees at this time but will be represented by an attorney during the hearing, the company said in a statement. The company has been fully cooperating with the Coast Guard and National Transportation Safety Board investigations since they began, the statement said.

The implosion also killed veteran Titanic explorer Paul-Henri Nargeolet; two members of a prominent Pakistani family, Shahzada Dawood and his 19-year-old son Suleman Dawood; and British adventurer Hamish Harding.

The Titan lost contact with its support vessel about two hours after it made its final dive later. When it was reported overdue, rescuers rushed ships, planes and other equipment to an area about 435 miles (700 kilometers) south of St. John’s, Newfoundland.

The search for the submersible attracted worldwide attention, as it became increasingly unlikely that anyone could have survived the implosion. Wreckage of the Titan was subsequently found on the ocean floor about 330 yards (300 meters) off the bow of the Titanic, Coast Guard officials said.

The time frame for the investigation was initially a year, but the inquiry has taken longer. The Coast Guard said in July that the hearing would delve into “all aspects of the loss of the Titan,” including both mechanical considerations as well as compliance with regulations and crewmember qualifications.

This story has been edited to clarify that “all good here” was one of the last things heard from the submersible, not necessarily the very last thing heard.