Philippines preacher pleads not guilty to child abuse, trafficking charges

Police said two of the alleged victims of Apollo Quiboloy have indicated that they will testify against him.

A Philippines celebrity preacher, who calls himself the “anointed son of God”, has pleaded not guilty to charges of sex abuse of children and human trafficking, his lawyer said.

Apollo Quiboloy, 74, a close ally of former President Rodrigo Duterte, was arrested last Sunday on multiple charges, after a weeks-long search of his church’s sprawling 30-hectare (74-acre) compound by more than 2,000 security personnel in the southern city of Davao.

“He is innocent,” Quiboloy’s lawyer, Israelito Torreon, told reporters after an arraignment in Manila on Friday. A pre-trial hearing is scheduled for October.

Earlier, Quiboloy and four co-accused arrived in a police minibus about 45 minutes before his scheduled arraignment amid a swarm of reporters.

Handcuffed and in an orange detainee shirt, the preacher was almost unrecognisable underneath a bulletproof helmet and vest.

Asked by a reporter what his message to followers was, he answered in Filipino, “Stay strong, stay strong.”

In a statement released ahead of the hearing on Friday, Joahna Paula Domingo, a lawyer of one of the alleged victims, said, “It is our firm belief that the truth regarding the alleged criminal acts of Apollo C Quiboloy and his co-accused will ultimately be disclosed.”

On Friday, Davao police chief Colonel Hansel Marantan told radio station DZBB that two of the five alleged sex slavery victims of Quiboloy have already decided to testify against the suspect.

Police spokesman Colonel Jean Fajardo said the victims were allegedly molested when they were 12 or 13 years old. They were allegedly told to do whatever was asked of them to “serve God”, and that the sexual favours would be their “pass to heaven”.

Quiboloy is followed by millions of people in the Philippines, where church leaders hold heavy sway in politics.

A statement from his Kingdom of Jesus Christ church, ahead of the arraignment, said its “cardinal rule” was that members are “not forced to do anything against their will”.

He is also facing charges of child abuse before another court.

A United States grand jury has separately indicted Quiboloy for conspiracy to engage in sex trafficking by force, fraud and coercion, sex trafficking of children, and bulk cash smuggling.

The 2021 US indictment alleges that women were recruited as personal assistants for Quiboloy to prepare his meals, clean his residence, give him massages, and have sex with him.

President Ferdinand Marcos said on Monday that the government was not yet looking to extradite the pastor to the US, because “we are focusing on the cases filed in the Philippines”.

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Al Jazeera and news agencies