(UPDATE) ABOUT 100 policemen swooped down on the compound of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KOJC) in Davao City Monday morning to serve an arrest warrant for Apollo Quiboloy, but the pastor accused of child abuse and human trafficking was nowhere to be found.
The Philippine National Police’s (PNP) Criminal Investigation and Detection Group served the arrest warrant against Quiboloy and five of his co-accused at the KOJC Dome at Buhangin District around 5 a.m., where Quiboloy’s lawyer agreed to allow four teams composed of six personnel to search the compound. They later emerged without the pastor in their custody.
Outside, Quiboloy’s followers protested the police action while PNP helicopters hovered above to monitor the situation on the ground.
Several police officers wearing anti-riot gear and carrying police shields positioned themselves outside the front gate of the KOJC compound.
Quiboloy is facing charges under Section 5(b) of Republic Act (RA) 7610 or the Special Protection of Children Against Abuse, Exploitation, and Discrimination Act and under Section 10(a) of the same act before a Davao court.
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He is also facing a non-bailable offense of Qualified Human Trafficking under Section 4 (a) of RA 9208, as amended before a Pasig court.
Both the Davao and Pasig courts have issued arrest warrants against Quiboloy and his co-respondents.
Last month, the Supreme Court allowed the transfer of Quiboloy’s criminal cases from Davao City to Quezon City “to avoid a miscarriage of justice,” given the pastor’s influence in Davao.
In a statement, Lorraine Badoy, host of a program airing on the Sonshine Media Network International (SMNI) news channel, said the serving of the arrest warrant was conducted simultaneously with similar operations in other properties owned by KOJC including the Prayer Mountain and the Glory Mountain in Tamayong, the QSands Baptismal Resort in Samal, and the Kitbog Compound in Sarangani.
Badoy, a former member of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict, said that a “battalion of state forces from the PNP and the AFP swooped down in full battle gear — armed to the teeth with high-powered firearms while helicopters hovered above — to confront innocent and unarmed civilians of the KOJC.”
She claimed the operations were conducted upon orders of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
“Without search warrants, state forces stormed into these private properties and searched every square inch while unarmed civilians — most of them missionaries, church workers and their families — screamed in rage and terror and wept as they bore witness to the excessive and arrogant abuse of power by Marcos,” she said.
Police Regional Office 11 spokesman Maj. Catherine de la Rey said operatives, including teams from Special Action Force, Davao City Police Office, Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, and a team from Regional Mobile Force Battalion, did not find Quiboloy or the other suspects in the areas they searched.
De la Rey said the operation was launched after they received information that Quiboloy and the others were in these areas.
Quiboloy, Tamayong Barangay Captain Cresente Canada, Paulene Canada, Sylvia Camanes, Jackielyn Roy, and Ingrid Canada remain at large.
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