Sara joins KJC anniversary rally amid police watch

Vice President Sara Duterte —Inquirer/Richard A. Reyes

DAVAO CITY, Philippines — Vice President Sara Duterte on Sunday joined members of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KJC) as they celebrated the sect’s 39th anniversary while surrounded for a week now by police looking out for their fugitive leader Apollo Quiboloy.

Duterte told the sect’s followers that she was advised not to join them but did so anyway. She also reiterated her earlier apology to them for convincing KJC to support then presidential candidate Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

President Marcos and Duterte ran in 2022 as a tandem under the Uniteam banner, but have since parted ways after only two years in power.

READ: PNP not leaving KJC Compound until Quiboloy’s arrest

She described the already weeklong standoff between the police and Quiboloy’s followers as “a crisis, a disaster.”

“Make these police forces understand what has happened to our nation, where is the rule of law now. If they were sent here to instill fear in you, you are sent by God to make them understand,” she said.

“Make them understand that this is not about me and you. This is about the abuse of power and the assault on the freedom of religion,” she added.

Quiboloy has been charged here in the country and in the United States with sex trafficking and other alleged offenses.

“While you were going through nine days of assault, the Office of the [Vice] President (OVP) was also under attack,” Duterte also said, apparently referring to her confrontation with the House of Representatives which is deliberating on OVP’s budget.

“I am not yet at the level when l can love my enemies. I cannot bring myself to love them,” she said. —reports from Germelina Lacorte, Joselle Badilla and Ryan Rosauro