MANILA, Philippines – As if chasing a world record that no one wanted to break, the Philippine government managed to capture two of its most wanted criminals in five days: a deposed city mayor allegedly linked to a criminal organization and an infamous doomsday preacher wanted for child abuse, sexual exploitation and human trafficking.

Deposed Bamban Mayor Alice Guo, once accused of spying for China, was arrested in Indonesia on September 5. She was quickly extradited to the Philippines that evening, escorted by none other than Interior Minister Benhur Abalos and Philippine National Police (PNP) chief General Rommel Marbil.

Days later, on September 8, apocalyptic preacher Apollo Quiboloy, a staunch ally of former President Rodrigo Duterte, surrendered to Philippine authorities after months of hiding from the Senate and courts and following a standoff between police and his supporters in Davao City.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. himself gave the signal for two arrest and extraction missions. In Guo’s case, allowing Abalos and Marbil to fly to Jakarta on their own. In Quiboloy’s case, it was Marcos who gave the signal for officials to agree to the preacher’s only reasonable request: for the military to be present at his surrender because he allegedly didn’t trust the police. (The fact that he ended up in PNP custody is a completely different twist..)

In both cases, it is a foreign country with which the Philippines wants to maintain close relations.

Let’s take a closer look at both cases.

Swap for Guo

It was a mystery why Indonesia—despite the lack of a criminal case against her, at least until the crucial moment (a Tarlac court eventually issued an arrest warrant)—was willing to devote resources to tracking Guo. Earlier, Indonesian officials had captured and then transferred custody to Cassandra Ong, a Filipina linked to another shady gambling racket in Pampanga whose alleged boyfriend is Alice Guo’s brother.

Justice Minister Jesus Crispin Remulla was the first to reveal the information, confirming to reporters in Manila that Indonesia was interested in a prisoner swap – Alice Guo for Gregor Johann Haas, a suspected member of an Australian drug cartel arrested in Cebu in May last year.

Indonesian envoy in Manila, Agus Widjojo, in a brief interview with media on the sidelines of an event in Makati the same night Guo was in transit, neither confirmed nor denied that such negotiations had taken place but said they had been held in Jakarta and initiated by Abalos and Marbil.

The word around town is that Manila is accepting the solution, even if another problem comes its way — Australia is likely to oppose such a transfer. By default, Canberra is hesitant to subject its citizens to the death penalty. Leavides Domingo-Cabarrubias of Monash University wrote in 2022 of “(Australia’s) clear position to oppose the death penalty in all circumstances for all people.”

The U.S. federal government outlined the issue in its 2018 “whole-of-government strategy…to globally abolish the death penalty.”

Will Canberra ultimately be willing to use diplomatic and political arguments in the case? Haas was arrested in Cebu on an Interpol alert stemming from a case in Indonesia (where drug convictions can be punishable by death). Australia is also keen to develop even closer ties with Southeast Asia, particularly key countries such as the Philippines and Indonesia.

Anyone but Torre, anything but extradition to the US

Apollo Quiboloy has been living this way for years — even after the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation placed him on its most wanted list on charges of “conspiracy to engage in sex trafficking by force, fraud, and coercion; and sex trafficking of children; sex trafficking by force, fraud, and coercion; conspiracy; and large-scale cash smuggling.”

Quiboloy was allowed to move freely around the country from November 2021 until recently. After all, his close friend Rodrigo Duterte held power until June 2022. Quiboloy also endorsed the eventual winners of the 2022 elections: Marcos and Vice President Sara Duterte, the former president’s daughter.

Then, in the first quarter of 2024, as if law enforcement officials and the judiciary had been woken from a deep slumber, cases were filed and arrest warrants issued against the preacher in the Philippines. While his movements were restricted, Quiboloy refused to surrender or be captured—that is, until the PNP finally complied with its attempts to enforce the warrant.

The alleged human trafficker’s greatest fear was the possibility of extradition to the United States, where he faces charges.

The Philippine government, including Marcos himself, has said the United States has not filed a request for Quiboloy’s extradition. Rappler sources privy to talks related to the controversial preacher said that while no request has been filed, there have been extensive discussions — albeit informal — between the two countries regarding a possible extradition.

But why didn’t they file if they were ready? Domestic politics are a key factor in both the Guo and Quiboloy cases.

Ties with Duterte

Guo’s case exposes the scale of illegal activities in the Philippines, conducted under the guise of the Chinese company Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators, which Rodrigo Duterte supported and promoted.

I would say this is part of a larger reckoning and accounting – what the Philippines has gone through as part of the elder Duterte’s drive to forge closer ties with Beijing.

While Marcos and Sara Duterte have stopped pretending that their fragile alliance from 2022 is still going strong, the Philippine president himself is apparently wary of attacking the younger Duterte — even if they haven’t spoken since she left his office.

Her allies in Congress have been less subtle. Many of Sara Duterte’s former cronies in the legislature who once welcomed her are no longer shy about grilling the former Davao mayor on her use of public funds, among other issues.

Marcos has also been quite conservative in his attacks on old Duterte, even when the latter accused him of being a drug addict (only the First Lady has been publicly cool on the matter).

While Rappler’s sources with a vested interest decline to speculate on why our allies in Washington are holding off on filing an extradition request, one might wonder: It would be in the United States’ best interest to give President Marcos and his administration as much leeway as possible in handling the cases brought against one of Rodrigo Duterte’s most trusted men.

It would not be good if Manila were seen as acting against Quiboloy at America’s behest. Marcos has already made it clear that Quiboloy will first be prosecuted in the Philippines and then serve his sentence, if convicted, before extradition even comes into the picture. This is certainly a victory for Quiboloy.

However, as soon as Quiboloy fulfilled one of his requests, another was quickly taken away from him.

The pastor’s explicit request was for the military to be present. Supporters in Davao City apparently expected Quiboloy to be placed in military custody, not to mention that law enforcement is a civilian matter handled by the PNP. The Defense Department has officially rejected proposals to place Quiboloy in military custody.

The saga of the self-proclaimed son of God is not over yet. – Rappler.com