Some 100 allegedly fraudulent marriages in Canada are connected to the religious group led by the spiritual adviser of now former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte.
This stunning allegation was made on March 5, 2024 by Dindo Maquiling, a former follower of Apollo Quiboloy.
Maquiling is a former executive director in Canada of the Children’s Joy Foundation, a group identified with Quiboloy, a close friend of Duterte.
Maquiling testified on March 5 before a panel of the Philippine Senate that was investigating allegations of abuses by Quiboloy.
The testimony sheds some light on the international operations of Quiboloy’s church, which is headquartered in Davao City, the bailiwick of Duterte.
Citing Maquiling’s testimony, multiple media reports related that the fake marriages were allegedly done to circumvent immigration laws in Canada.
The said alleged practice was supposedly intended to give Canadian legal status to people who were raising funds for the Kingdom of Jesus Christ, the church founded and led by Quiboloy.
Testifying online during the Senate panel’s inquiry into alleged abuses by Quiboloy and the Kingdom of Jesus Christ, Maquiling also revealed that he participated in a sham marriage in 2013.
The former Quiboloy follower said that he married another church member because the woman’s visa was going to expire.
Maquiling also related that he was a Canadian citizen at the time.
“Hindi lang po ako ang biktima. Meron po’ng kulang-kulang na isang-daan na kasalan po dito sa ‘Kingdom’ ni Pastor Quiboloy na puro peke, dito lang ho sa Canada,” Maquiling said.
(I’m not the only victim. There were about a hundred marriages in Pastor Quiboloy’s ‘Kingdom’ that were all fake in Canada alone.)
Maquiling was a toy company manager in Canada before joining Quiboloy’s flock.
The man became a Kingdom of Jesus Christ volunteer in 2013 and helped Quiboloy’s group raise funds for victims of Super Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan).
Maquiling was appointed executive director in Canada of the Children’s Joy Foundation in 2016.
He resigned from the Quiboloy-associated foundation in 2019.
Quiboloy was an influential figure during the term of then Philippine president Duterte.
He is now facing legal troubles under the administration of Duterte’s successor and current President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.
On March 4, 2024, the Philippine Department of Justice said that it had recommended the filing of charges of child abuse and human trafficking against Quiboloy.
Quiboloy is also facing charges in the United States.
The preacher was accused of sex trafficking, child sex trafficking, bulk cash smuggling, and other charges when a federal grand jury in California indicted him in 2021.
The 2021 indictment alleged that Quiboloy obtained fraudulent visas for the members of his Kingdom of Jesus Christ.
In February 2022, the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation placed Quiboloy on its most wanted list.
An FBI poster states that Quiboloy is “wanted for his alleged participation in a labor trafficking scheme that brought church members to the United States, via fraudulently obtained visas, and forced the members to solicit donations for a bogus charity, donations that actually were used to finance church operations and the lavish lifestyles of its leaders”.
“Members who proved successful at soliciting for the church allegedly were forced to enter into sham marriages or obtain fraudulent student visas to continue soliciting in the United States year-round.
“Furthermore, it is alleged that females were recruited to work as personal assistants, or ‘pastorals,’ for Quiboloy and that victims prepared his meals, cleaned his residences, gave him massages and were required to have sex with Quiboloy in what the pastorals called ‘night duty’,” the FBI poster also notes.
On November 10, 2021, a U.S. federal warrant was issued for Quiboloy’s arrest.
Quiboloy calls himself the “appointed son of God”.
Controversial preacher Apollo Quiboloy is a friend of and spiritual adviser to now former President president Rodrigo Duterte.
By Carlito Pablo
