FILE PHOTO: Pastor Apollo Quiboloy. JAY SANTOS / INQUIRER MINDANAO
MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine National Police (PNP) “is not telling the truth” when it said it carried out a “lawful operation” during the delivery of arrest warrants for Apollo Quiboloy and others in Davao City three days ago.
According to the religious sect Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KJC), which was founded by Quiboloy, the PNP, with hundreds of its members allegedly heavily armed, “attacked” their compounds in Davao City on June 10 with “unnecessary and unrestrained force.”
“Philippine National Police, which was serving a warrant of arrest for Pastor Apollo C. Quiboloy and five others, said that they stormed the KJC compound because they were hit by a water cannon,” KJC said in a statement Thursday.
READ: PNP: Serving of arrest warrant vs Quiboloy, others a ‘lawful operation’
“However, CCTV footage shows the PNP’s claim is false. The footage showed that the water cannon was used only when the soldiers forced their way into the compound,” it added.
KJC also said PNP members continued their operation despite asking them to wait for the group’s lawyers and even “climbed up a ladder at the gate and jumped into the compound,” although it “could not produce a search warrant.”
“A number of the missionaries sustained injuries after the PNP’s violent entry, including a woman who got kicked in her face by a military boot. Two other male missionaries also sustained injuries on their shoulders and arms,” according to KJC.
READ: Apollo Quiboloy on FBI’s ‘most wanted’ list
Quiboloy’s lawyer, Israelito Torreon, earlier said the police were allowed to enter the compound after KJC lawyers arrived in the area.
“What happened [at] Glory Mountain was much worse. The main gate was smashed [and] destroyed when the police forcibly entered the property. Five members of KOJC were arrested and handcuffed by the police as they allegedly were carrying bolos during the raid,” Torreon said Monday, June 10.
Reporters sought the side of the PNP about KJC’s statement, but it has yet to reply as of posting time.
But in a previous statement, the PNP maintained that the June 10 law enforcement operation against Quiboloy and his subordinates in Davao City was conducted “in strict compliance with its legal security protocols.”
It added that the service of the arrest warrants did not cause any harm to anyone.
On April 3, a Davao Regional Trial Court ordered the arrest of Quiboloy and his men, namely, Cresente Canada, Paulene Canada, Ingrid Canada, Sylvia Camanes, and Jackiely Roy, over charges of violating Republic Act 7610, or the Anti-Child Abuse Law, specifically the provision on sexual abuse of minors and maltreatment.
A Pasig City court likewise issued an arrest warrant on Quiboloy, who has been claiming to be the “appointed son of God,” for a non-bailable offense of qualified human trafficking on April 11.
Also, a Senate panel investigating the alleged criminal offenses of Quiboloy and KJC released an arrest order against Quiboloy as he repeatedly skipped attending the probe.