DOJ: No request yet for Quiboloy’s extradition to US

The Department of Justice (DOJ) has yet to receive an official request for the extradition of pastor Apollo Quiboloy, who was declared wanted by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for sex trafficking charges.

“We have not received any official communication from the US government. Extradition cannot be done motu proprio, especially if the subject is our own citizen,” Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said in a message to reporters on Saturday.

“Any communication will be coursed through diplomatic channels,” he said.

Guevarra said any request to extradite Quiboloy is governed by the Philippines-US extradition treaty.

“The US State Department makes the extradition request. Our DFA (Department of Foreign Affairs) checks the sufficiency of the request; if sufficient, the DFA endorses it to the DOJ,” the Justice chief said.

“We then file a petition for extradition with the proper RTC (regional trial court) on behalf of the US government. The rest of our judicial process, including appeals, follows. In case the issuance of a warrant of arrest becomes necessary, the subject may post bail for his provisional liberty,” he added.

The FBI issued “Wanted” posters for Quiboloy, a self-proclaimed “appointed son of god,” and two other members of his Kingdom of Jesus Christ, namely, Teresita Tolibas Dandan, and Helen Panilag.

Quiboloy is "wanted for his alleged participation 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," the FBI said.

"Members who proved successful at soliciting for the church allegedly were forced to enter into sham marriages or obtain fraudulent student visas to continue soliciting in the United States year-round," it added.

"Furthermore, it is alleged that females were recruited to work as personal assistants, or 'pastorals,' for Quiboloy and that victims prepared his meals, cleaned his residences, gave him massages and were required to have sex with Quiboloy in what the pastorals called 'night duty,'" the FBI said.

Quiboloy was indicted by a federal grand jury in the US District Court for the Central District of California, Santa Ana, California, for conspiracy to engage in sex trafficking by force, fraud and coercion and sex trafficking of children; sex trafficking by force, fraud and coercion; conspiracy; and bulk cash smuggling.

Asked if the DOJ can issue a hold departure order or an immigration lookout bulletin against Quiboloy, Guevarra said the DOJ will study the legal basis for such an action “in the absence of any official request or communication from the US side.”

“Extradition is supposed to be a summary proceeding. We’re not supposed to be trying the US criminal charges here, but we have had cases where the process reached the Supreme Court, but were ultimately implemented,” he said. — VBL, GMA News