A detained Philippine pastor who is also wanted in the United States for sex trafficking children registered Tuesday to run in next year’s senate elections.

Apollo Quiboloy, an ally of former president Rodrigo Duterte, is a self-proclaimed “Appointed Son of God” whose sect claims millions of followers.

The 74-year-old was arrested last month and is currently detained in Manila and facing charges of child abuse, sexual abuse and human trafficking. One of his lawyers filed his candidacy paperwork.

“He wants to be a part of the solution to the problems of our country. He is running because of God and our beloved Philippines,” lawyer Mark Christopher Tolentino said.

Quiboloy pledges to promote laws that are “God-centred, Philippine-centred and Filipino-centred”, Tolentino told journalists after submitting the candidacy papers to election officials.

The circumstances are not without precedent.

In May 2022, Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada won a senate seat while on trial for corruption. He took up the post and was acquitted in January.

Another was rights campaigner Leila de Lima, who spent the majority of her six-year senate term in prison after being detained in 2017 on drugs charges. She was cleared this year.

Candidates are only disqualified from standing in senate elections if they have exhausted all appeals after being convicted of offences involving “moral turpitude”, according to the election code which does not list specific crimes.

Quiboloy was charged by the United States in 2021 with sex trafficking of girls and women to work as personal assistants, who were allegedly required to have sex with him during what they said was their “night duty”.

He is also sought by US authorities for bulk cash smuggling and a scheme that brought church members to the US through fraudulently obtained visas.

They were then forced to solicit donations for a bogus charity, raising funds that were instead used to finance church operations and the lavish lifestyles of its leaders, according to the FBI.

Twelve of the 24 senate seats are up for grabs in next year’s midterm polls, along with more than 18,000 congressional and local government executive posts.

The General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Pastor Enoch Adeboye has offered guidance to Christians on how to respond when their pastors refuse to collect tithes.

Speaking during the October edition of the RCCG Holy Ghost Service, Pastor Adeboye addressed the ongoing debates surrounding the practice of tithing, which has become a contentious issue in Christian communities.

In his message, Adeboye urged Christians to stop arguing over the matter of tithing and to find practical solutions when faced with a pastor who does not support the practice.

He shared an example of one of his pastors who recently preached against tithing, acknowledging that such situations can cause confusion among congregants.

“I want to beg everyone all over the world. Let this argument about tithe come to an end, please,” Adeboye said.

He emphasized that believers should not abandon their churches if their pastors refuse to accept tithes, advising them to follow their pastor’s wishes by giving offerings instead.

However, he also encouraged those who feel convicted to tithe to find another church where tithes are accepted.

Punch Metro reported that the cleric referenced one of his pastor’s who preached against tithing during an online sermon, throwing futher confusion on the controversial subject of tithing.

“If your pastor says he doesn’t want tithe, don’t leave his church. If he says all he wants is offering, give him offering,” Adeboye explained.

“But if your heart tells you that you should give God at least 10 per cent, find a church nearby where the pastor says, ‘We can collect tithe, we will use it for the glory of God,’ then give that pastor your tithe so you don’t quarrel with your pastor, and you don’t quarrel with God.”

Adeboye also apologized for previous comments in which he stated that those who do not tithe would not enter heaven, clarifying his position on the matter.

“I know some of you know more than I do. I know that Pastor of mine knows much more than I do. But let’s do it this way, particularly you members. If your pastor says he doesn’t want tithe, don’t leave his church. If he says all he wants is offering, give him offering.

“But if your heart tells you that you should give God at least, 10 per cent, find a church nearby where the pastor says, ‘we can collect tithe, we will use it for the glory of God’, then give that pastor your tithe so you don’t quarrel with your pastor and you don’t quarrel with God, your conscience will be clear.”

The General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, RCCG, Pastor Enoch Adejare Adeboye has apologised for saying any believer who does not pay tithes will not make heaven.

Tendering his apology while delivering a message at the ongoing annual national youth convention of the church going on at the RCCG Redemption City, pastor Adeboye said: “I am going to be talking to everybody as soon as God permit me, I am going to apologise for making a mistake for saying that if you don’t pay tithe, you will not be making it to heaven. That is wrong.

“That is not in the Bible. What the Bible says is to make peace with all men and holiness without which no man shall see God. What the Bible says is, to follow peace with all men and holiness without which no man will make heaven.

“It is possible to be right and wrong at the same time. I will prove it to you. For years, we taught that light travels in a straight line. Later we say it travels in waves.”

Adeboye, who further narrated his experience at one of the conventions of the ministry of Kenneth E Hagin in Tulsa, United States, where a man made a promise to give more than all participants at the convention, said all participants had given about 3.5 million dollars towards the building of the Rhema Bible College. But the man promised he was going to give more than what everybody gave towards the project.

He said: “The man told me how he had started a business with 500 dollars and had told God if he blessed him, he would not insult Him with 10 per cent.

“Five years after the man started the business, he said he was making a turnover of 50 million dollars. And that was what inspired me also to give towards God’s work violently.

“If you want to dominate, you must know how to praise God violently. How did David become king? He was not the first in the family, he was not even recognised but he knew how to praise God, he did not do it gently but violently, with all his might.

“Unfortunately, most of us don’t appreciate that. When we are much younger in the Lord, we praise God freely. As we begin to grow in the Lord, our praise becomes gentle, more civilised, and more polite. David, even after he became king, danced so vigorously that even his wife mocked him.

“Your giving must be of the violent type. King Solomon gave thousands of burnt offerings to God and God said there would not be a king before or after him, and he would not fight a single war, because kings fight war to retain their domain and the Bible records that he has peace all round.”