Philippine National Police headquarters inside Camp Crame. (FILE PHOTO)
MANILA, Philippines — Several senior police officers who were among the police team that attempted to serve the arrest warrants against Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KJC) leader Apollo Quiboloy and others were administratively relieved, the Philippine National Police (PNP) said on Friday.
According to PNP spokesperson Col. Jean Fajardo, the order was issued to pave the way for an investigation into the incident to check if there were lapses or shortcomings on the side of the police officers.
READ: PNP: Serving of arrest warrant vs Quiboloy, others a ‘lawful operation’
“Dito po sa ibang senior officers, they were administratively relieved to give way sa gagawin nating imbestigasyon kung nagkaroon nga ba ng lapses, nagkaroon nga ba ng pagmamalabis, nagkaroon nga ba ng negligence of supervision,” Fajardo said during a media briefing.
(For the other senior police officers, they were administratively relieved to give way for the investigation that we will conduct to determine if there were lapses, if there was excess of force, or if there was negligence of supervision.)
“So itong administrative relief po particularly ng ating mga senior officers at iba pa pong PNP personnel ay para magbigay-daan po para i-assess, i-evaluate, at imbestigahan kung ano po bang nangyari noong June 10 that led to this issue na nagkaroon nga po ng mga ganitong usapin na overkill nga daw po ang ginawa ng PNP,” she added.
(So this administrative relief particularly in our senior officers and other PNP personnel is to give way to assess, evaluate, and investigate what happened on June 10, that led to discussions whether the PNP’s actions were overkill.)
The PNP likewise stood by its earlier position on Tuesday that the warrant of arrest was legal and that called on Quiboloy’s side to respect the legal process.
“The PNP stands doon po sa kanyang position na ang inimplement natin ay isang warrant of arrest na validly issued po ng ating mga korte,” Fajardo said.
“Ang sa PNP lang po ay kailangan po nating i-enforce itong warrants of arrest at sana ay respetuhin din po ‘yan ng parte ni Pastor Apollo Quiboloy at iba pa pong akusado,” she added.
READ: Quiboloy sect: PNP ‘not telling truth’ on June 10 operation in Davao
On June 10, authorities went into the compound of the KJC in Davao City to serve the arrest warrants, but were met with resistance from KJC members.
The KJC then said that the operation used “unnecessary and unrestrained force” in its statement on Thursday.