Kingdom of Jesus Christ member dies of cardiac arrest
DAVAO CITY, Philippines — Fugitive alleged sex offender and human trafficker pastor Apollo Quiboloy again eluded hundreds of policemen backed by riot squads who swooped down on his vast compound here yesterday to arrest him.
One of Quiboloy’s followers reportedly died of heart attack during the police operation that began at 4 a.m. and was live streamed by a local TV network owned by the fugitive religious sect leader’s Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KOJC).
Quiboloy’s followers also claimed the police raid left 18 KOJC members injured.
The police operation caused heavy traffic along Diversion Road where Quiboloy’s 30-hectare compound is situated, as hundreds of his followers spilled over the premises, hampering the movement of policemen belonging to the Police Regional Office XI (PRO 11) of the Philippine National Police (PNP).
PRO11 director Brig. Gen. Nicolas Torre, who led the operation, appealed to Quiboloy to give himself up as “it’s just a matter of time” before he is located and arrested.
He declined to reveal the exact number of policemen involved in the raid, but a Facebook post by Quiboloy’s media outfit said there were 3,000 policemen involved in the raid.
Last June 10, members of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group and the elite Special Action Force of the PNP raided the same compound and four other properties of the KOJC but went away empty-handed.
During yesterday’s raid, officers brought equipment that could detect people behind cement walls. But by mid-afternoon, they found no sign of Quiboloy in the compound that includes a “cathedral,” the Jose Maria College, Sonshine Media Network Inc. office, a living area, a hangar and a taxiway leading to Davao International Airport.
In a statement, PRO 11 said it is mourning the death of 51-year-old Edwin Cabatbat who lost consciousness while manning one of the KOJC’s watchtowers in Buhangin District. He was pronounced dead on arrival at the Southern Philippines Medical Center.
“PRO 11 expresses deep condolences regarding Mr. Cababat’s passing and emphasizes that the police were simply fulfilling their duty in executing the warrant of arrest for Pastor Quiboloy, who has been evading law enforcement,” it said.
It maintained Cabatbat’s death was not related to the police operation.
Quiboloy’s lawyer Israelito Torreon questioned the operation, saying arrest warrants had already been served last June 10 against Quiboloy and his assistants Ingrid Canada, Vicente Canada, Jacklyn Roy by a court in Pasig City.
He again denied the criminal allegations against the religious leader, saying these were fabricated by critics and former members who were removed from the religious group after committing irregularities.
“Four youngsters are suffering from severe anxiety and seven lost consciousness,” Torreon said in a text message, referring to the outcome of the police operation.
Forcible entry
He accused policemen of forcibly entering the compound while using tear gas despite getting assurances from Torre that they would be given 30 minutes to open the gate.
The KOJC lawyer was also questioning the search conducted by police on the KOJC hangar.
He said no representative from the KOJC was present while the search was being made. “What if they planted something there?” Torreon said.
The lawyer also claimed that the PNP had installed CCTVs inside the compound and tents, which indicated that they would not be leaving anytime soon.
“It is illegal for them to put up a tent inside the compound. A search warrant does not mean that you are the owner of the house,” he said.
Police said they are ready for the long haul as the compound has 42 buildings, with one building alone covering about five hectares.
As of yesterday noon, Torre said they had scanned less than 30 percent of the compound. He vowed not to leave the compound until Quiboloy and his co-accused are caught.
“We will stay here until we get him. We will not pull out of here,” Torre said.
“If he truly cares for his followers, Quiboloy should just surrender and face the cases filed against him in court,” he added.
“Spare your supporters from their heartache and just get out and surrender,” Torre said.
Torre chastised Quiboloy’s followers for interfering in their operation. He said some of them appeared to be harrassing the policemen by debating with policemen over loudspeakers.
“How can we do our job if they claim to cooperate but do things to disrupt our work?”
Quiboloy’s followers, many filming the police raid with their cellphones, yelled at the police, questioning the legality of the raid and pronouncing the innocence of Quiboloy as a close supporter and spiritual adviser of former president Rodrigo Duterte.
Duterte had criticized previous attempts by large numbers of police to arrest Quiboloy as overkill.
The KOJC founder and leader, who branded himself as the appointed son of God, claimed in 2019 that he had stopped a major earthquake from hitting Mindanao.
PRO 11’s Torre said officers wanted to serve warrants for the arrest of Quiboloy for various criminal cases, including child abuse and human trafficking.
He justified the large deployment, saying there were more than 40 buildings and structures to be searched in the religious compound, where large numbers of Quiboloy’s followers heckled and opposed the raid noisily.
“We won’t leave here until we get him,” Torre told reporters as sirens blared in the background. “We have no-bail warrants for Quiboloy and four others for very grave crimes, including human trafficking, child abuse and other cases.”
‘Don’t overkill’
Sen. Bong Go, meanwhile, condemned the violence that he said resulted in the death of a KOJC member.
“First of all, I sincerely sympathize with the families of those who died and were injured this morning due to the police raid on the Kingdom of Jesus Christ compound in Davao City,” Go said.
“I know that the duty of the police is to enforce the law. But we condemn the violence that is happening because the life of every Filipino is important to us,” he added.
Go said he “fully supports our uniformed personnel as long as you do your job correctly. Protect the people! Don’t overkill that ordinary Filipinos will be hurt, especially when it’s inside the place of prayer.”
Go, vice chairman of the Senate committee on public order, said, “We have come a long way in professionalizing and modernizing our uniformed personnel. We also successfully pushed for their salary increases and supported modernization programs during the Duterte administration.”
“My consistent appeal to the PNP is for our police force to remain professional by doing your duty in accordance with the law and in a manner that fulfills your mandate to serve and protect every Filipino,” he added.
“It’s important here, organize your work! No one should have been hurt. That’s why I always advise the police, just do what is right – protect the lives of every Filipino without the taint of abuse and politics!” Go noted.
In 2021, United States federal prosecutors announced the indictment of Quiboloy for allegedly having sex with women and underage girls who faced threats of abuse and “eternal damnation” unless they catered to the wishes of the self-proclaimed “son of God.”
Quiboloy and two of his top administrators were among nine people named in a superseding indictment returned by a federal grand jury and unsealed in November 2021.
The superseding indictment contained a raft of charges, including conspiracy, sex trafficking of children, sex trafficking by force, fraud and coercion, marriage fraud, money laundering, cash smuggling and visa fraud.
Quiboloy’s group said then that he was ready to face the charges in court, but he went into hiding after a Philippine court ordered his arrest for child and sexual abuse.
The Senate has separately ordered Quiboloy’s arrest for refusing to appear in committee hearings on criminal allegations against him.
President Marcos has urged Quiboloy to surrender and assured him of fair treatment by authorities.
When he was mayor of Davao city and later as president, Duterte appeared in Quiboloy’s news program to promote his police-enforced drug crackdowns, which left thousands of mostly poor suspects dead.
Duterte and his police officials have denied authorizing extrajudicial killings of drug suspects, but he openly threatened drug dealers with death when he was in office.
The International Criminal Court has been investigating the widespread killings under Duterte’s campaign against illegal drugs as a possible crime against humanity. — Emmanuel Tupas, Cecille Suerte Felipe