MANILA, Philippines (AP) — The United States has asked the Philippine government to extradite a Filipino church leader, who was once an influential adviser to former President Rodrigo Duterte, to face trial on charges including child sex trafficking and fraud that landed him on the FBI’s most wanted list, two Philippine officials said Thursday.The U.S. request for Apollo Carreon Quiboloy’s extradition was sent to the Department of Justice in Manila through the Philippine Foreign Affairs Department in July.The request needs the approval of two Philippine courts, which have been trying the detained former televangelist for human trafficking and child abuse charges, according to two high-ranking officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because of a lack of authority to publicly discuss the issues.The U.S. Embassy in Manila did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press.
Criminal suspects in the Philippines must finish their trials and serve their sentences if convicted prior to extradition. Philippine justice officials, however, can ask a domestic court to allow the temporary surrender of a suspect to a foreign court to face trial prior to the resolution of their Philippine cases under the 1994 extradition treaty of Washington and Manila.Quiboloy, 76, leads the Kingdom of Jesus Christ church, which was founded in 1985 in southern Davao city and claims to have a wide following in the Philippines and abroad, including in the U.S.
