Apollo C. Quiboloy

SMNI founder and self-proclaimed “appointed son of God” Apollo C. Quiboloy is known as the executive pastor of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ, but despite the title, the legal counsel of Swara Sug Media Corporation (SSMC) denied his ever being the owner of the media company.

He is the founder and “honorary chairman” of the Sonshine Media Network International (SMNI), the official broadcasting arm of his Davao City-based religious group Kingdom of Jesus Christ, The Name Above Every Name (KOJC TNAEN).

A preacher since 1972, Quiboloy proclaimed himself as “appointed Son of God” and began using this as his official brand in 2003. He tells the story that his mother received a message from “God” saying “that is my son” in 1950 when he was born.

The controversial pastor also has several claims of encounters with supreme beings, published in his official website, all without credible supporting evidence.

While considered SMNI’s “honorary chairman”, the legal counsel of SMNI operator and franchise holder Swara Sug Media Corporation recently argued during a congressional inquiry that the infamous church leader was never an officer nor a stockholder of the company.

Lawyer Mark Tolentino further said Quiboloy is no longer head of KOJC TNAEN since December 2022, after he was replaced as executive pastor by Marlon Acobo, the group’s administrator for its Middle East and Africa chapters.

Despite this clarification, the spiritual adviser and close friend of former president Rodrigo Duterte remains synonymous with SMNI. In fact, its official logo is inspired by his head figure, while a special page on the media outlet’s website is dedicated for the latest news about him and his religious group.

From 2003, Quiboloy has been hosting the show “Give Us This Day” on the network, and since January 2023, co-hosts the program “Gikan sa Masa, Para sa Masa (From the Masses, For the Masses) with Duterte.

Tolentino’s pronouncement in Congress about Quiboloy never being an owner of SMNI belies what transpired during the hearing when a lawmaker noted that a document submitted by SSMC to the House in April 2021 cited the televangelist as the ultimate beneficial owner of the network.

This contradicted records of the Securities and Exchange Commission that identified Quiboloy as the network’s ultimate owner only until 2020, based on the testimony of SEC’s General Counsel Romuald Padilla.

A media company operating with a legislative franchise is mandated to seek congressional approval for any change in leadership, which SSMC failed to do.

As of Aug. 1, 2023, the “Executive Pastor of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ, The Name Above Every Name, Inc.”, a corporation sole established for Quiboloy’s religious group, is the majority shareholder of SSMC. With its 53.46% stake in SSMC and 46.22% shares handled by its wholly-owned subsidiary Phoebus Capital Holdings Inc., the “Executive Pastor of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ, The Name Above Every Name, Inc.” owns 99.68% of the network.

According to the Revised Corporation Code of the Philippines, leaders of religious groups may establish corporation soles for the purpose of “administering and managing, as trustee, the affairs, property and temporalities.”

It is worth noting that Quiboloy relinquished the leadership in KOJC TNAEN, which he founded in 1985, in the same month when the United States Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control froze all his assets in the U.S. in December 2022 for his alleged involvement in “serious human rights abuse”.

Since January 2022, the pastor has been on the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation’s most wanted list. In November 2021, he was indicted by a federal grand jury in Santa Ana, California for various charges including bulk cash smuggling, sex trafficking of children allegedly from 2002 to 2018, and engaging in sex with female KOJC TNAEN members called “pastorals” that include minors as young as 12 years old. Quiboloy and his camp have repeatedly denied the accusations.

Despite the issuance of an arrest warrant, there has been no announcement from the Philippine government if the U.S. government has sought the extradition of Quiboloy. The jury trial for Quiboloy, along with eight out of nine individuals who are members of the KOJC TNAEN, is scheduled on Nov. 5, 2024.

Quiboloy’s pending criminal charges in the United States have triggered the Philippine Senate to investigate his alleged maltreatment of fellow church members including forcing minors to solicit money and have sex with him. The Senate has subpoenaed Quiboloy for refusing to attend the hearing.

The pastor’s legal troubles have also affected SMNI News when the California-based multinational video platform YouTube took down his personal account and the channels of the KOJC TNAEN, SMNI News and of its program “Laban Kasama ang Bayan” in July 2023 in compliance with U.S. sanction laws. Aside from YouTube, TikTok, Facebook and Instagram also took down personal accounts of Quiboloy.

Although the SMNI and “Laban Kasama ang Bayan” have created new channels, the two have yet to regain their original 1.7 million and 100,000 subscribers, respectively. The network has been forced to utilize the streaming platform Rumble. Meanwhile, SMNI’s Facebook and Instagram accounts are inaccessible, although it is not clear if these were taken down by the social media sites or deleted by the network itself.