FIRING LINE: I’m California Dreamin’ for Quiboloy

By Robert B. Roque, Jr.

In the midst of Pinoy pride over Alexandra Eala’s stellar run on the WTA Tour, a friend in the US caught me by surprise by asking about another Filipino figure who, through his actions, has trampled on our reputation abroad: jailed televangelist Apollo Quiboloy.

His question: Is it true that the Philippine Department of Justice is finally going to allow his extradition to the US?

Currently, this blasphemously self-styled “Appointed Son of God” faces qualified human trafficking charges in Pasig, a non-bailable offense punishable by life imprisonment. He is also charged with child abuse and sexual abuse in Quezon City.

The charges were initially filed in Davao, but the Supreme Court ordered the cases moved — perhaps a reflection of how the Duterte-run city could not be trusted to give Rodrigo Duterte’s bestie a fair trial.

Now look at the menu of cases filed against Quiboloy in American courts, and you’ll find them far more serious. A federal grand jury indicted him in 2021 on charges including sex trafficking of children, trafficking by force, fraud and coercion, bulk cash smuggling, and visa fraud built around a fake charity scheme. Young women in his church were allegedly coerced into sex through threats of abuse and eternal damnation. He has been on the FBI’s most-wanted list for years.

Quiboloy has been sitting in Pasig City Jail since surrendering after a 16-day standoff at his compound in September 2024. With Justice Secretary Fredderick Vida confirming that the US formally transmitted its extradition request through the Department of Foreign Affairs on August 6, no time should be wasted.

Malacañang says President Marcos wants the request “studied carefully,” with a decision expected within weeks. Well, this is a challenge for Vida: take decisive action and settle it in days.

After all, Marcos has already proven he can make this exact call without flinching. In March 2025, he allowed the Philippine National Police to hand his predecessor, Rodrigo Duterte, over to The Hague on a tarmac close to midnight. No delay. No prolonged debate. No waiting for public opinion to settle.

If a sitting Vice President’s father could be surrendered to the International Criminal Court that easily, surrendering a jailed televangelist to a California court should be even easier.

Every month Quiboloy remains here is another month that Philippine courts, prosecutors, and taxpayers foot the bill, while a defense team funded by decades of tithes and real estate continues its work. Meanwhile, the country he allegedly smuggled cash out of — and the girls he allegedly trafficked — wait for justice in a system that seems built to move at his pace, not theirs.

Let the US take him.

They have the resources, the reckoning, and the jurisdiction that matters most.

Marcos doesn’t need a political calculation here. All he needs is the same clarity he showed with Duterte.

Sign the surrender.

Save the money.

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