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Apollo Quiboloy

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Messiah or "May sayad"?[note 1]
Christ died for
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Christianity
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Schismatics
Devil's in the details
For many shall come in my name, saying, 'I am Christ'; and shall deceive many.
Matthew 24:5
First of all, to God, then to my beloved country. I am ready to be ostracized or persecuted because of this love – love for humanity as a whole. .
—Quiboloy as he smugly looks at himself in the mirror feeling handsome

Apollo Carreon Quiboloy (locally [kɪboˈlɔɪ]; (April 25, 1950–)),[note 2] also known as Pak U PACQ, is a Filipino pastor, cult leader, far-right[1][2] activist and wanted fugitive who founded the Kingdom of Jesus Christ, a Restorationist megachurch based in Davao City, Philippines. A sworn narcissist and crackpot, he styles himself as the "Appointed Son of God" and "the Owner of the Universe", and has made bombastic claims about his divinity, none of which impressed U.S. authorities who clearly wanted his head on their platter due to his extensive criminal record in the States, including but not limited to human trafficking, corruption and child sexual abuse.

A life of kookery[edit]

Quiboloy was born and raised in Davao CityWikipedia to parents of KapampanganWikipedia origin who migrated to Davao following World War II in search of opportunities.[3] He used to be a member of the United Pentecostal ChurchWikipedia prior to making a name for himself by establishing his own congregation in 1985 after a spat with the United Pentecostal Church of the Philippines (UPCP), naming his new sect Kingdom of Jesus Christ, The Name Above Every Name.[4]

The world is yours, or so you think.[edit]

I can't blame you if you mistook this megachurch for a casino in Las Vegas.

Having gained prominence especially in his native Davao, Quiboloy claims to have amassed over six million followers across 200 countries.[5] His televangelism has also unsurprisingly enabled him to acquire assets and venture into industries such as media production and sports management through Sonshine Media Network InternationalWikipedia and Sonshine Sports Management,Wikipedia as well as what amounts to his answer to Iglesia ni Cristo's Philippine Arena called the KJC King Dome.Wikipedia[6] Quiboloy's influence allowed him to forge connections with prominent politicians in the country, portraying himself as a kingmaker anointing political leaders to be voted by his flock; his family's support for Ferdinand Marcos's dictatorial regime also led him to his friendship and endorsement of Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos, Jr., Ferdinand's son and current top honcho at the Malacañang Palace.[7]

And with his senior posting at the megachurch he founded also came in the batshit crazy crankery, having developed a narcissistic god complex by appointing himself as a self-styled messiah, apparently not content with his status as a mere pastor unlike fellow Filipino televangelists Mike VelardeWikipedia and Eddie Villanueva.Wikipedia[note 3] Quiboloy cultivated a cult of personality centred on himself and his purported status as the Messiah.[8] As such, he had the gall to make bombastic claims about how he is able to control the weather and earthquakes at his command, claiming to have halted the 2019 Cotabato earthquakesWikipedia after yelling "Stop!"[9] He also stated that he did not do the same to stop the onslaught of Typhoon Kammuri (Tisoy) in response to those critical of his earlier claim in stopping the Cotabato earthquakes.[10] He also went so far as to make narcissistic claims that the Omicron variant of the COVID-19 virus was spreading due to the "persecuting, prosecuting and maligning" he received from the public, especially in light of the FBI investigations and US government sanctions levelled against him.[11]

Sonshine with cloudy skies[edit]

His propaganda news media arm, Sonshine Media Network International, which Quiboloy has also used to spew out unironic praise of his supposed achievements,[12] gained criticism from watchdog and media groups for its alleged far-right bias,[1] peddling of fake news[13] and "red-tagging" against individuals and groups critical of the Duterte administration,[14] having also been complicit with its role in spreading misinformation about the 2022 Philippine elections as well as the broadcast shutdown of media conglomerate ABS-CBN,Wikipedia of which former president Rodrigo Duterte spuriously accused of bias and illicit foreign connections.[15]

Kicked by a campy horse[edit]

In 2019, prominent gay comedian Vice GandaWikipedia satirised Quiboloy's faux divinity by challenging him to take Ang ProbinsyanoWikipedia, a police procedural aired by ABS-CBN since 2015, off the air.[16] ABS-CBN's broadcast franchise was revoked the following year, with which Quiboloy claimed victory.[17]

He's not the Messiah, he's a very naughty boy[edit]

As much as I would like to participate in every debate and public forum related to my bid for the presidency, I am compelled to decline the invitation of SMNI, which is owned by Apollo Quibuloy, who, according to the US government, has molested and abused children. I cannot, in good conscience, be part of any activity organized by a man wanted for detestable crimes and who unconscionably used the name of the Lord in vain for religious scams.
Manny Pacquiao, in a stopped clock moment denouncing Quiboloy.
Quiboloy's ugly mug as prepared for him by the FBI.

As if his crankery wasn't enough, a number of former KJC members broke their silence and accused Quiboloy of various offences,[18] including but not limited to human trafficking, child abuse and rape.[19] This led to the United States Department of Justice indicting Quiboloy and other church members in 2021, with the Federal Bureau of Investigation following suit by including him in the Most Wanted list.[20] In December 2022, the US Department of Justice and Department of State imposed sanctions against Quiboloy for human rights abuses and corruption, with key assets owned by Quiboloy in the States seized pursuant to the US Global Magnitsky Act.Wikipedia[21]

The indictment claims that Quiboloy allegedly coerced girls as young as eleven[22] and young women to have sex with him, as well as running a sex trafficking operation that threatened victims under the pain of "eternal damnation" should the victims refuse to comply.[5] Paedophilia aside, the Feds also questioned Quiboloy's wealth — whose assets also include luxury vehicles, real estate, firearms[23] and private jets — which they alleged to have been ill-gotten through prostitution and corruption of church funds.[19][5]

Further adding fuel to the fire was when the Philippines' Department of Tourism featured Quiboloy on their Facebook page when they promoted their "Love The Philippines" tourism campaign meant to stimulate the tourism industry which was previously impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, all despite backlash concerning Quiboloy's alleged sex offences.[24]

In a stopped clock moment, fellow fundie kook and former boxer Manny Pacquiao declined an invitation by Quiboloy to participate in a debate for the 2022 Philippine presidential electionWikipedia, citing Quiboloy's past sex offences.[25] Quiboloy went apeshit and filed a libel suit against the ex-pugilist, which was dismissed by Davao City prosecutors due to lack of evidence.[26]

Son of God vs Laughing Indian Meme Man[edit]

In June 2023, Indian-Canadian YouTuber Mutahar "Muta" Anas, best known for running the gaming commentary channel SomeOrdinaryGamers, filed a complaint against Quiboloy's YouTube accounts to YouTube staff via Twitter, having stumbled upon Quiboloy and learning about the FBI warrant for his arrest.[27] Google later clarified in a statement that the ban was in compliance with existing US government sanctions against Quiboloy.[28] This was later followed by similar bans on several other accounts owned and/or affiliated with Quiboloy, such as the SMNI News and Kingdom of Jesus Christ channels, again in compliance with existing sanctions;[29] They attempted to dodge sanctions by creating an alternate account for SMNI shortly after the previous ban on their old channel, but said alt account was also banned a few days later,[30] though there exists a few more accounts that appear to be affiliated with Quiboloy and/or SMNI to some degree;[31][32][33] it's only a matter of time before YouTube gets around to cleaning house and purging the accounts in question. There also existed an SMNI News mobile app for Android platforms[34][35] but it appears to have been also delisted likely in compliance with sanctions.[36]

Surprisingly enough, even TikTok also joined in on the banning spree, as they have terminated Quiboloy's presence on their platform on July 5, 2023, also citing existing US sanctions.[37] As to whether the now-Elon Musk owned Twitter X will follow suit is anyone's guess; the latter might give Quiboloy some leniency because of Musk's committent to Freeze Peach, but government sanctions are government sanctions regardless. Meta on the other hand complied and banned at least some of Quiboloy's accounts on their Facebook and Instagram platforms,[38] later clarifying in a statement with Rappler that the ban was due to violations of their policies regarding "Dangerous Organizations and Individuals" as outlined in their terms of service. This also extends to third parties showing support or representation of Quiboloy and/or any organisations associated with him.[39]

This is following an earlier deplatforming action against the SMNI News Facebook page which was suspended over community guidelines violations, likely due to misinformation allegedly peddled by Quiboloy's media arm.[15][40]

Quiboloy remains unfazed however,[41] again playing the persecution card and claiming that the channel takedown was an act of "political and religious persecution" from American authorities, never mind the fact that the rash of complaints was sparked by a tweet from a Canadian content creator who otherwise had nothing to do with him and was compelled to make the filing on Quiboloy out of concern for the sex offences the pastor allegedly committed.[42] He along with SMNI later created accounts on the alt-tech video sharing site Rumble which he described as a "cancel culture-free" service,[43] though it is doubtful at best for major telecom providers in the Philippines to subsidise access to such webshites like what they do with mainstream social media platforms, thereby limiting their audience even further.[note 4]

External links[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. The term "may sayad" is a Filipino slang for someone who is insane or out of their mind, i.e. a crank.
  2. The Federal Bureau of Investigation listed 1947 or 1950 as his birth year. The SMNI News Channel Facebook page posted Quiboloy's 71st birthday wish on April 27, 2021, thus Quiboloy was born in 1950.
  3. Not that the latter two are devoid of criticism though, including but not limited to Velarde's controversial endorsement of Bongbong Marcos and Villanueva's homophobia and his previous stint as a perennial presidential candidate.
  4. Telecom providers especially in the Philippines typically subsidise access popular social media sites such as Facebook, TikTok, Instagram and Twitter and certain online mobile games like Mobile Legends, on top of unlimited access call and text promos.[44] It is doubtful at best for alt-tech services to gain that level of popularity to justify being subsidised.

References[edit]

  1. 1.0 1.1 Reuters Institute report
  2. Digital News Report: Filipinos more 'cautious' of expressing political views
  3. Gavilán, Jodesz (February 15, 2018). "Who Is Pastor Apollo Quiboloy, the "Appointed Son of God"?". Rappler.
  4. King, Johnny Loye (2016). Spirit and Schism: A History of Oneness Pentecostalism in the Philippines (PhD thesis). University of Birmingham. pp. 192–194.
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 Megachurch leader who calls himself the 'son of God' charged with sex trafficking
  6. Revita, Juliet (November 15, 2019). "World's biggest arena in Davao 70% complete". Sun Star Davao. Retrieved June 22, 2020.
  7. Baroña, Franco Jose (May 29, 2022). "'No favors from Marcos despite support'". The Manila Times. Retrieved July 30, 2022.
  8. Lesson from Duterte, Quiboloy: Watch out for ‘cult of personality’ in 2022 elections
  9. Galvez, Daphne (November 1, 2019). "Quiboloy: 'I yelled at the Mindanao quake to stop, it stopped'". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved March 9, 2020.
  10. "Pastor Quiboloy says he did not 'stop' Tisoy because of bashers". MSN. GMA News. Retrieved March 9, 2020.
  11. Garcia, Maria Angelica (November 29, 2021). "Apollo Quiboloy says Omicron variant due to allegations against him". GMA News. Retrieved August 14, 2022.
  12. The majestic beauty of the 75,000-seater indoor stadium, the KJC King Dome
  13. PBBM urged to ‘act decisively’ vs alleged Quiboloy offenses
  14. "Quiboloy's SMNI fuels disinformation, online attacks on gov't critics". Rappler. February 6, 2022. Retrieved March 2, 2022.
  15. 15.0 15.1 SMNI News flagged by Facebook for violating community guidelines
  16. Vice Ganda challenges Quiboloy to stop 'Ang Probinsyano'
  17. "Quiboloy says Vice Ganda prophesied ABS-CBN, 'Ang Probinsyano' to stop". The Philippine Star. Retrieved November 1, 2021.
  18. Former Quiboloy church worker talks about being physically hit
  19. 19.0 19.1 ‘Son of God’ in trouble
  20. "APOLLO CARREON QUIBOLOY - FBI". Federal Bureau of Investigation. Retrieved February 5, 2022.
  21. US assets seized: Quiboloy sanctioned over alleged human rights abuses
  22. Shut Down Quiboloy and SMNI Permanently!
  23. Pastor Quiboloy briefly detained in Hawaii over cash, guns in private plane: report
  24. DOT on why it featured Quiboloy: ‘We returned the love sent our way’
  25. Lacson, Pacquiao to skip SMNI forum, cite Quiboloy as reason
  26. Davao prosecutors trash Quiboloy cyber libel complaint vs Pacquiao
  27. Quiboloy YouTube channel terminated, triggered by game vlogger's mention of FBI warrant
  28. YouTube takedown nothing new, says Quiboloy
  29. Quiboloy-free: YouTube bans SMNI, KOJC channels
  30. Up again, down again: YouTube drops SMNI news for second time
  31. SMNI News Malaysia (Archive)
  32. ACQ Classics (Archive)Wayback Machine
  33. Teddy Casiño on Twitter: "Oh look, another attempt by Quiboloy and SMNI to skirt @TeamYouTube’s termination of their channels. @DuterteWatchdog Laban Kasama Ang Bayan
  34. They have apps in Google Play as well.
  35. SMNI on Google Play
  36. Not Found
  37. TikTok Philippines affirms Quiboloy ban due to 'current US sanctions'
  38. Baizas, Gaby (August 17, 2023). "Apollo Quiboloy's official Facebook page deleted, Instagram account unavailable". Rappler. Archived from the original on August 19, 2023. Retrieved August 20, 2023.
  39. Meta says Quiboloy Facebook removal due to violations on dangerous individuals policy
  40. Facebook warns users against 'liking' SMNI News page
  41. Quiboloy on YouTube takedown: I’m bulletproof
  42. Quiboloy sa pag-terminate ng Youtube sa kaniyang channel: itong ginagawa sa akin ay political at religious persecution
  43. Quiboloy indirectly reacts to termination of YouTube channels. Moves to 'cancel-culture'-free platform
  44. Smart announces new Power All 99 promo with Unli TikTok and more!