JUSTICE Secretary Menardo Guevarra yesterday said the United States government has not requested yet the extradition of Apollo Carreon Quiboloy — founder of a church called Kingdom of Jesus Christ, The Name Above Every Name (KOJC) — a friend and personal adviser to President Rodrigo Duterte.

Quiboloy and US-based KOJC officers Teresita Tolibas Dandan and Helen Panilag have been indicted before the United States District Court in Los Angeles and Honolulu for sex trafficking charges.

The information showed that girls, as young as 12, have been allegedly coerced to have sex with Quiboloy under threat of bodily harm and “eternal damnation.”

“As of this date, the DOJ (Department of Justice) has not received any request for extradition from the US DOJ nor from the US State Department thru the DFA (Department of Foreign Affairs),” Guevarra said in a message.

Likewise, Guevarra confirmed that no similar charges involving the same circumstances have been filed against Quiboloy in the country.

However, he said a complaint for rape against Quiboloy was being reviewed by the DOJ.

“No sex trafficking charges have been filed or are pending in the philippines against Pastor Apollo Quiboloy involving the same factual circumstances as those in the recent US indictment. A complaint for rape, however, was filed against him last year in Davao City, but the same was dismissed. That dismissal is now on appeal with the DOJ,”Guevarra said.

The sex-trafficking charges were an added lawsuit as defendants no lower that nine (9) have been charged in 2020 for their alleged intricacy in which church members were brought to the US with fraudulently-obtained visas, and forced to solicit donations for a non-existent children’s charity.

The charge claimed that the donations were used to pay for “lavish lifestyles” of the church leaders.

In the latest indictiment, Quiboloy, Dandan, and Salinas have been accused of participating in a conspiracy to engage in sex trafficking by fraud and coercion.

They allegedly recruited women aged 12 to 25 to work as “pastorals” (personal assistants) for Quiboloy.

Three of the five victims were minors when the alleged sex trafficking began.

The charge sheet also disclosed that the victims prepared Quiboloy’s meals, cleaned his residences, gave him massages, and were required to have sex with him as part of “night duty.”

The victims were allegedly ordered to have sex with Quiboloy on a schedule determined by the church leader and others, including Dandan. With Cristina Lee-Pisco