CNN
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A violent standoff between Philippine police and followers of a fugitive preacher wanted by both the FBI and local law enforcement on sex abuse and human trafficking charges entered its fourth day Tuesday as nearly 2,000 officers surrounded a sprawling church compound.
Pastor Apollo Carreon Quiboloy, a self-proclaimed “son of God” and founder of the Church of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ, has been on the run for at least three years.
A 2021 U.S. indictment accuses the 74-year-old preacher and his alleged accomplices of running a sex trafficking ring that forced girls and young women to have sex with him under threat of “eternal damnation.”
Quiboloy, who denies all allegations against him, is believed by Philippine police to be hiding in a 30-hectare compound that includes a cathedral, a college, a bunker and a runway to Davao International Airport.
Police tried to arrest the preacher and five of his suspected accomplices in a raid that began in the southern Philippine city on Saturday, but they faced fierce and at times violent resistance from his followers, who reportedly threw stones at officers and blocked a highway with burning tires, Davao police said on Facebook.
A 51-year-old follower of Quiboloy reportedly died of a heart attack on Saturday. Police said his death was unrelated to the operation.
Late Sunday evening, police used tear gas to disperse the crowd. During the day-long clash, at least six police officers were injured and at least 18 people were arrested, police said.
Photos released by police on Monday showed officers with bloody faces and bandages being treated for their injuries.
Police Brigadier General Nicolas Torre III, who is leading the raid, said the operation will not end until Quiboloy is caught.
“We're not leaving,” Torre said on Saturday. “Nobody is leaving until we get him.”
Quiboloy founded the Church of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ in 1985 and rose to prominence as televangelism gained popularity in the Philippines, a predominantly Catholic country where millions of people also belong to a variety of Christian sects.
The church, which claims to have seven million followers worldwide, operates businesses such as a college, a resort and media companies in the Philippines, according to its official website.
Quiboloy is a close supporter and spiritual adviser to former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte who regularly appeared on a church-affiliated media network during his tenure as mayor of Davao. Davao was a testing ground for Duterte's controversial war on drugs, which resulted in thousands of extrajudicial killings, according to human rights groups.
In a Facebook post on Saturday, Duterte's daughter, Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte, accused police of abusing their power and harassing church members during the raid on the complex.
The 2021 US indictment against Quiboloy and two alleged accomplices accuses them of sex trafficking, including girls as young as 12. The suspects are said to have recruited young women and girls as personal assistants and forced them to have sex with the preacher.
The indictment from the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Central District of California also accuses Quiboloy and his alleged accomplices of running a human trafficking scheme that brought church members to the United States on fraudulently obtained visas and forced them to raise funds for a bogus charity.
During the Philippine Senate's investigation into the church that began in December last year, former church members accused Quiboloy of sexual abuse and sexual exploitation.
Quiboloy's lawyer has denied the allegations against the preacher and said the church intends to file a counter-complaint against the police for the raid on his property.
In February, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. called on Quiboloy to surrender and face the charges against him, according to his office.
