Claim: Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KOJC) leader Apollo Quiboloy has died after resisting arrest by the police.
Rating: FALSE
Why we fact-checked this: A TikTok video containing the claim has 1.6 million views, 10,700 likes, and 1,067 comments as of writing. It was posted on August 27 by the account “gmanewofficial.”
The video features a grayscale image of Quiboloy with a clip of an ambulance passing by a street. It also includes the text, “Patay si Pastor Apollo Quiboloy matapos manlaban sa pag aresto ng mga pulis” (Pastor Apollo Quiboloy is dead after resisting arrest by the police) and “Condolence, R.I.P.” A logo of GMA Network is also superimposed on the image.
The facts: No official reports indicate that Quiboloy has died. The Philippine National Police has yet to locate and arrest the KOJC leader who continues to evade arrest orders over human rights abuses.
Additionally, the TikTok account that posted the video is posing as the official account of GMA News. The news outlet’s official and verified account is “gmanews.”
Manhunt ongoing: The video was posted after police launched operations to arrest the fugitive preacher on August 24, with around 2,000 police personnel deployed to the 30-hectare KOJC compound. This was greeted by protests from the church’s members and supporters, with tensions flaring during the operation and resulting in injuries to several police officers and allegedly one death of a KOJC member due to a heart attack.
On September 3, Davao region police director Brigadier General Nicolas Torre III, who is leading the operations, said the police had no imposed deadline and would continue the manhunt even if it takes a year. (READ: [Vantage Point] How long can Quiboloy flee from justice?)
“Ayaw kong lagyan ng deadline ang operation na ito. Ang una kong nasabi sa KOJC during the Senate hearing, one month minimum. Hindi ako nagbibiro, with all sincerity nung sinabi ko. We can even be here after a year,” he said.
(I don’t want to set a deadline for this operation. What I initially said about the KOJC during the Senate hearing was a minimum of one month. I wasn’t joking; I said it with all sincerity.)
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Evading arrest: In March 2024, a Davao court issued an arrest warrant against Quiboloy and five others over child abuse charges. A Pasig regional trial court had also ordered Quiboloy’s arrest on charges of human trafficking.
The KOJC leader also faces a 2021 arrest order from a California court for running a sex trafficking ring and threatening young girls and women with “eternal damnation” to force them to have sex with him. (PRIMER: Investigations, cases against Apollo Quiboloy)
Amid the ongoing efforts to serve the arrest warrants against Quiboloy, former president Rodrigo Duterte defended his spiritual adviser, saying in a statement, “Our country has never been in a more tragic state as it is today. Rights have been trampled upon and our laws derided.”
Duterte’s daughter, Vice President Sara Duterte, also hit back at the government over the takeover of the KOJC compound and apologized to KOJC members for campaigning for President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. during the 2022 presidential elections. The remark comes after her departure from the Marcos Cabinet and the rift between the Marcos and Duterte camps. – Ramon Franco Verano/Rappler.com
Ramon Franco Verano is a Rappler volunteer. He is a fourth year History student at the University of Santo Tomas. This fact check was reviewed by a member of Rappler’s research team and a senior editor. Learn more about Rappler’s fact-checking mentorship program here.
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