A preacher on the FBI’s most wanted list – accused of sexual abuse and human trafficking – is believed to be hiding in a secret bunker, 30 metres underground.

Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr deployed 2,000 police officers at the weekend to find and arrest the influential pastor who is a longtime friend of the country’s former president.

Police think Apollo Quiboloy, a self-proclaimed ‘owner of the universe’ and ‘appointed son of God’, is hiding in a bunker at the sprawling compound owned by his church, the Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KOJC), in the southern city of Davao.

Quiboloy is wanted on charges of child and sexual abuse and related allegations of human trafficking. He denies wrongdoing.

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

Police think Apollo Quiboloy, a self-proclaimed ‘owner of the universe’ and ‘appointed son of God’, is hiding in a bunker

nti-riot police rest outside the Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KOJC) compound in Davao city

Anti-riot police block supporters of religious leader Apollo Quiboloy

Hundreds of police officers backed by riot squads raided a vast religious compound in search of the pastor on Saturday, with officers even bringing in drilling equipment.

A supporter of the group, called Kingdom of Jesus Christ, reportedly died due to a heart attack during the massive police raid that started at dawn in the group’s compound in Davao city, livestreamed online by a local TV network owned by the group, police said, adding that the death was not related to the police operations.

Officers brought equipment that could detect people behind cement walls. 

But by mid-afternoon, they found no sign of Quiboloy in the compound – some 30 hectares (75 acres) that includes a cathedral, a school, a living area, a hangar and a taxiway leading to Davao International Airport.

Quiboloy and his lawyer have denied the criminal allegations against him and his religious group, saying these were fabricated by critics and former members, who were removed from the religious group after committing irregularities.

Quiboloy’s followers, many filming the police raid with their cellphones, yelled at the police, questioning the legality of the raid and pronouncing the innocence of Quiboloy, who was a close supporter and spiritual adviser of former President Rodrigo Duterte.

Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr deployed 2,000 police officers at the weekend to find and arrest the influential pastor who is a longtime friend of the country’s former president

Anti-riot police block supporters of religious leader Apollo Quiboloy as they stage a protest rally outside the Kingdom of Jesus Christ compound in Davao city, Davao del Sur province

Duterte had criticized previous attempts by large numbers of police to arrest Quiboloy as overkill.

Quiboloy claims to be the appointed son of God. In 2019, he claimed he stopped a major earthquake from hitting the southern Philippines.

But he allegedly had sex with women and underage girls who faced threats of abuse and ‘eternal damnation’ unless they catered to the self-proclaimed ‘son of God.’

Marcos said Saturday’s police deployment aimed at ensuring the area around the church premises was safe and secure.

‘And considering that this is a 30-hectare (74-acre) compound, you really need plenty of people, not just a dozen police,’ Marcos said.

His remarks follow criticism over the handling of the case by former President Rodrigo Duterte and his daughter, Vice President Sara Duterte.

The pair, who used to be allies of Marcos but have become rivals, have accused police of rights violations and abuse of power.

‘These acts are not only a blatant violation of constitutionally protected rights but a betrayal of the trust that we, Filipinos, place in the very institution sworn to protect and serve us,’ Sara Duterte said in a statement.

Quiboloy’s followers blocked the gate of the compound to prevent hundreds of shield-carrying police from enforcing a court order to arrest the evangelist preacher, a police spokesperson said.

The police ‘have turned the Kingdom of Jesus Christ compound into a garrison’, Israelito Torreon, Quiboloy’s lawyer, told ANC news channel on Tuesday.

Sara Duterte, whose recent exit from Marcos’ cabinet sealed the break-up of the alliance they forged in a 2022 election, said in her statement she regretted persuading members of Quiboloy’s church to vote for Marcos two years ago. 

The Philippine National Police (PNP) are searching the 30-hectare Kingdom of Jesus Christ Church for the pastor, where supporters are being held back by anti-riot police

Police Brigadier General Nicolas Torre III, who led the raid, said officers wanted to serve warrants for the arrest of Quiboloy for various criminal cases, including child abuse and human trafficking. 

He justified the large deployment, saying there were more than 40 buildings and structures to be searched in the religious compound, where large numbers of Quiboloy’s followers heckled and opposed the raid noisily.

‘We won’t leave here until we get him,’ Torre told reporters as sirens blared in the background.

‘We have no-bail warrants for Quiboloy and four others for very grave crimes, including human trafficking, child abuse and other cases.’

In 2021, United States federal prosecutors announced the indictment of Quiboloy 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’.

Quiboloy and two of his top administrators were among nine people named in a superseding indictment returned by a federal grand jury and unsealed in November 2021.

The superseding indictment contained a raft 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’s group said then that he was ready to face the charges in court, but he went into hiding after a Philippine court ordered his arrest and several others for child and sexual abuse. 

The Philippine Senate has separately ordered Quiboloy’s arrest for refusing to appear in committee hearings that was looking into criminal allegations against him.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr has urged Quiboloy to surrender and assured him of fair treatment by authorities.

When he was mayor of Davao city and later as president, Duterte appeared on Quiboloy’s news programme to promote his police-enforced drug crackdowns, which left thousands of mostly poor suspects dead. 

Duterte and his police officials have denied authorising extrajudicial killings of drug suspects, but he openly threatened drug dealers with death when he was in office.

The International Criminal Court has been investigating the widespread killings under Duterte’s campaign against illegal drugs as a possible crime against humanity.