Filipino cult chief ‘is hiding in chamber underneath lair’, cops worry

A cult leader accused of horrifying sex and trafficking crimes is now believed to be hiding in a subterranean bunker with dozens of die-hard fanatics underneath his sprawling 75-acre complex in the Philippines following a dramatic raid by some 2,000 police officers over the weekend.

Apollo Quiboloy, a self-proclaimed ‘owner of the universe’ and ‘appointed son of god’, vanished after protesting his innocence, leaving some of his six million claimed supporters to clash with police on the fringes of his complex in Davao City.

But with radar technology, police believe they have found signs of life deep underground the surface – and claim to have already rescued two women they believe are the victims of a coordinated sex trafficking operation.

Already, police have uncovered a maze of rooms inside the Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KOJC) lair, revealing in haunting video rows of beds, bare concrete walls and debris on the lower floors, with personal belongings still left out in empty dorms.

Elsewhere, neatly-decorated rooms with made beds, pot plants and televisions line the corridors of a shiny, modern hallway. Three separate floors span the huge compound, allegedly divided to confine women based on their attractiveness.

Unsettling footage appears to show a recently vacated compound – with plants still alive and laundry still hanging from furniture. But revelations are expected to follow as police attempt to search deep below the surface.

‘Considering that this is a 30-hectare (74-acre) compound, you really need plenty of people, not just a dozen police,’ President Ferdinand Marcos Jr told reporters on Tuesday as officers continued to try to secure the colossal site in Davao City.

From above, the KOJC compound is a huge, almost unnavigable site – bordering Davao’s international airport and a 75,000-capacity ‘cathedral’ dome for hosting events – as large as Old Trafford. 

Covering such a large area, police still believe Apollo Quiboloy could be hiding with some of his loyal supporters inside a bunker within the compound owned by his church.

The 74-year-old pastor, who heads the church in the Philippines, is among the FBI’s Most Wanted for conspiracy to engage in sex trafficking by force, fraud and coercion, the sex trafficking of children, bulk cash smuggling and various other alleged crimes.

Prosecutors allege that Quiboloy threatened women and underage girls with ‘eternal damnation’ if they refused to have sex with him. 

He has denied all wrongdoing, claiming the allegations and testimony against him has been made up by former members and critics.

Indeed his website has been updated, claiming he is being pursued by ‘evil people’ because ‘the Devil… will try to eliminate a good man… who lays down his life for his fellowmen, who are oppressed by evil, at all costs’.

As police clashed with supporters outside the compound over the weekend, officers raided what is believed to be an underground lair where women were held. 

They say two people – who they believe to be victims of human-trafficking – were rescued during the raid. 

Haunting footage obtained by local outlet The Daily Tribune showed what appear to be rows and rows of wooden beds, raised slightly off the floor.

Police appear to be in the basement of the compound, leading to a flight of stairs and decorated interior walls.

Debris including piles of wooden planks lay spread out on the ground as police conduct their search.

In another room, various furniture items can be seen left out, unpositioned.

A large, unlit room contains what appear to be rows and rows of wooden beds, raised slightly off the floor.

Clothes can still be seen left out to dry amid the apparent living quarters.

Pillows and water bottles show signs of life inside the enclosure.

Shoes still line cupboards outside the rooms, and personal belongings appear around another large, vacated room.

Officers brought equipment that could detect people behind cement walls to the raid as they searched in vain for Quiboloy.

They claim that their radar equipment detected the presence of some 20 to 30 people around 30 metres below the ground.

But police are yet to find clues leading back to the preacher. 

‘We are having a few difficulties because the signal we are monitoring using the ground-penetrating radar is moving,’ said Police Colonel Jean Fajardo. 

‘We won’t leave here until we get him.’ police chief Nicolas Torre III, who led the raid, said.

Video cuts to what appears to be another floor, decorated with clean metal counters and cupboards.

Corridors are illuminated with built-in overhead lights, revealing more rows of decorated private quarters.

Doorframes are lit up with blue LED lights, creating an eerie ambience through the hallways.

Police go on to reveal a mix of bunk beds and single rooms, some more decorated than others.

One single room has plants, posters and a dresser besides a neatly-made bed.

Others feature as many as six beds in a room, with more plain decoration.

Another room is shown to have at least two double beds, a sofa and a television mounted on the wall.

It is unclear for what purpose these rooms were used.

Police reportedly also swept a room ostensibly linked to ‘Amanda’, a key whistleblower who has helped expose alleged abuses within the church claiming as many as six million followers.

Amanda testified that she was one of many women held after being coerced into a sexual relationship with Quiboloy ‘at a young age’, presented as a ‘special privilege’ reserved for a chosen few, according to the Daily Tribune. 

The underground network of rooms is understood to span three levels, two reserved for the ‘most attractive’ women, kept near FBI Most Wanted preacher Apollo Quiboloy as ‘offerings’ – and the third reportedly used to confine other women.

The early morning raid on August 24 received terrifying backlash from KOJC members, who were met by a force of approximately 2,000 police officers.

One person is understood to have suffered a heart attack and died in the clashes outside the compound in Davao city.

Police said the death was not related to their operations.

The PNP’s air unit claimed that members of the KOJC also targeted one of its helicopters with military-grade lasers and drones to distract and harass its pilots.

At least 18 members were detained for resisting police dispersal, and some were injured. 

But by mid-afternoon, they found no sign of the preacher 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. 

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

Reports have also claimed media personnel have been harassed and intimidated since the raid.

Supporters have continued to gather in protest in recent days, blocked by anti-riot police. 

Police Brig. Gen. 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 have no-bail warrants for Quiboloy and four others for very grave crimes, including human trafficking, child abuse and other cases,’ Torre told reporters.

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

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 the arrest of several others for child and sexual abuse.