Apollo Quiboloy (INQUIRER FILE PHOTO / GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE)
MANILA, Philippines — An extradition request from the United States for Apollo Quiboloy may be coming soon, the Department of Justice (DOJ) said on Friday.
“So far, we have not received any extradition request. But Secretary [Jesus Crispin] Remulla knows that the official request from the United States is coming,” DOJ Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking Undersecretary Nicholas Felix Ty said in Filipino in a Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon briefing.
Ty said theDepartment of Foreign Affairs (DFA) would accept the US extradition request.
The DFA will then conduct a preliminary review of the request before forwarding it to the DOJ.
“Then, we also have our own assessments. For example, we will check if the offense is extraditable, or if it is covered by our extradition treaty with the United States,” Ty said.
“After that, we will file a case before a regional trial court, where a trial will be conducted to determine whether or not Quiboloy deserves to be extradited,” he added.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. previously committed that Quiboloy would first deal with cases filed against him in the Philippines before facing charges in the US.
Quobiloy is facing child abuse and human trafficking cases before Davao City and Pasig City courts, respectively.
He is also charged in the United States with conspiracy to engage in sex trafficking by force, fraud and coercion, and sex trafficking of children; sex trafficking by force, fraud, and coercion; conspiracy and bulk cash smuggling.