Philippine president pledges no special treatment for celebrity pastor

Apollo Quiboloy’s lawyer says pastor surrendered, countering constabulary accounts of apprehension during raid connected sprawling religion compound.

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr has pledged that evangelist preacher Apollo Quiboloy volition person nary peculiar attraction pursuing his arrest.

A weeks-long manhunt ended implicit the play erstwhile Quiboloy, a self-proclaimed “son of god”, was arrested on charges of child and intersexual abuse and allegations of quality trafficking.

The preacher, a longtime state of erstwhile President Rodrigo Duterte whose sect boasts of millions of followers, is besides wanted successful the United States connected charges of enactment trafficking and bulk currency smuggling.

“There is nary peculiar treatment,” Marcos told reporters connected Monday. “We volition not interruption immoderate of his rights and volition not disregard immoderate of his requests, immoderate they are.

“We volition show erstwhile again that our judicial strategy successful the Philippines is active, vibrant and working,” the president added.

Quiboloy has rejected each charges against him but went into hiding aft 2 courts issued apprehension warrants against him successful April.

He has besides refused to look earlier a Senate probe into alleged abuses of his church.

After months hunting the pastor, the Marcos medication deployed much than 2,000 constabulary to hunt his sprawling religion compound successful the confederate Davao City, connected suspicion that helium was hiding determination successful a bunker.

Philippine constabulary spokesperson Jean Fajardo said connected Sunday that Quiboloy was captured connected Sunday wrong the compound.

But Quiboloy’s lawyer, Israelito Torreon, disputed the government’s account, saying the pastor surrendered to the constabulary and subject due to the fact that helium did not privation the concern to further escalate.

“The innocence of Quiboloy volition beryllium affirmed by the court,” Torreon told DZBB radio.

Marcos said Quiboloy’s campy had acceptable conditions for his surrender, including a warrant helium would not beryllium sent to the US to look charges.

But Marcos said that “putting conditions is not an enactment for idiosyncratic who is simply a fugitive”.

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Al Jazeera and quality agencies