Bato slams long stay of police at KOJC compound

MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa sees no reason for the extended stay of police who are searching for wanted pastor Apollo Quiboloy at the Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KOJC) compound in Davao City.

Police have been looking for Quiboloy inside the KOJC compound over the past two weeks, with warrants of arrest issued against him for cases of sexual assault and human trafficking.

They believe – based on intelligence and equipment – that the fugitive pastor is still inside the compound, and have been digging a hole under a building basement to find him.

“I find no further justification for them (police) to stay any longer,” Dela Rosa, who conducted an ocular inspection at the KOJC compound, said yesterday.

“From my point of view, I don’t see any reason for the extended stay of our policemen at the expense of the students who are studying here, at the expense of the exercise of the religion of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ and at the expense of the freedom of movement of the persons inside,” he added.

During the Senate hearing, Dela Rosa stressed giving the members of KOJC “peace of mind.”

“It is clear that if there’s an existing tunnel there, it would have been found after 13 days,” he said.

PNP: Manhunt will continue

Regardless of Dela Rosa’s statement, Philippine National Police Region XI Director Nicolas Torre III insisted that the police “will not stop until Mr. Quiboloy is found.”

The senator also said that, based on his initial investigation, there is “irregularity in the search in the absence of a search warrant” and further stressed that it is a gross mistake for the police to dig inside the KOJC compound, especially since they still haven’t found Quiboloy.

During the Senate inspection, there was no hole found in the basement of the Jose Maria College (JMC) building – one of the structures at the compound – only a portion of still uncured cement floor.

However, Khashayar Toghyani, officer in charge of the Office of the City Building Official, said that the portion of concrete floor the senator inspected is one to two days old.

After the Senate ocular inspection and during the Senate hearing, Torre was forced to admit that they had dug a hole under the JMC building basement. He said he would take full responsibility for the activity.

Torre said there were civil and structural engineers and an architect present during their dig. He later revealed that they had hired civilians dressed in PNP uniforms to help them dig – this was “so they can enter without being blocked.”

For digging under the basement, Dela Rosa said “cases would really be filed against them.”

Israelito Torreon, KOJC legal counsel, said they are also preparing to file cases against the PNP for the digging they made, but refused to divulge what those cases will be.

Pepper spray

At the Senate hearing, Dela Rosa also lambasted the police for the pepper spraying of a member of the KOJC.

He said he saw a video of police Cpl. Rey Nacalario pepper spraying a woman and that what he did was “shameful.”

Dela Rosa added that he wants an update on the case filed against the police officer because he is “offended by the action.”

Torre said Nacalario only used alcohol and not pepper spray, but gave assurance that he does not condone such an act.

The PNP reasoned that the police officer just woke up, which may have been the reason for his crankiness.

Davao Mayor Sebastian Duterte, for his part, questioned the integrity and legality of the police operations.

“Are these operations being done by the PNP still within the bounds of the law? Are the rights of the Filipinos being respected and protected?” Duterte asked at the hearing.

“If the PNP, the very institution that is mandated to uphold the law, is the one who violates it, where can the ordinary citizen turn for justice and protection? Who will defend the rights of those who are powerless?” he added.

The mayor also said that he respects “the implementation of any warrant as long as it is within the law and does not trample on the constitutional rights of others.”

“It is our firm belief that the pursuit of justice must never come at the expense of fairness and due process,” he added.