MANILA – A Philippine court has ordered the arrest of a church founder and long-time friend of former president Rodrigo Duterte on charges of human trafficking and sexual abuse of a woman.

The evangelist preacher, who is also on the most wanted list of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation, is followed by millions of people in the Philippines, where church leaders are highly influential in elections.

A family court in the southern city of Davao has ordered the arrest of Apollo Quiboloy, a self-proclaimed “owner of the universe” and “appointed son of God” after he was indicted in March by the Justice Ministry on charges that are several years old.

The indictment in March was a reversal of a 2020 decision to dismiss the charges.

The victim’s “persistent legal battle has brought new light to the gravity of her accusations”, the Justice Ministry said.

In the US, Quiboloy faces separate charges of sex trafficking, based on accusations of coercing girls and young women to have sex with him, charges which he has denied.

Cash raised for a bogus California-based charity was used to recruit victims who would be brought to the US from the Philippines to work in a church called the Kingdom of Jesus Christ, The Name Above Every Name (KOJC), the US Justice Department said.

Some would be put to work raising more cash to help fund a lavish lifestyle for Quiboloy.

The sex trafficking scheme ran for at least 16 years to 2018.

Victims who complied were rewarded with “good food, luxurious hotel rooms, trips to tourist spots and yearly cash payments that were based on performance”, paid for with money solicited by KOJC workers in the US, according to the indictment.

Quiboloy’s church, founded in 1985, claims on its website to have some six million members in 200 countries.

Mr Duterte appears in photos posted on Quiboloy’s official Facebook page identifying Quiboloy as the former president’s “spiritual adviser”. REUTERS