CONFRONTATION Members of police units in charge of civil disobedience management prepare to confront and disperse supporters of Kingdom of Jesus Christ members gathered outside the sect’s headquarters at Buhangin District in Davao City on August 26, 2024. — GERMELINA LACORTE
MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Tuesday maintained that there were no human rights violations during the police raid on the Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KJC) compound in Davao City, adding that such claims are “political” and “untrue.”
“I think what they’re talking about, political na ‘yan (that’s political). Hindi na totoo ‘yan (those are untrue). [You can] go to human rights advocates, nothing that we did [was a violation],” he said.
“Lahat ng pumasok na pulis hindi armado, walang baril kahit isa. Hindi kami gumamit ng tear gas, wala kaming ginawang ganoon. So anong human rights violation?” he added.
(All the policemen were unarmed, not a single one had a gun. We didn’t use tear gas, we didn’t do anything like that. So what is the human rights violation?)
The operation was part of another attempt by the police to serve the arrest warrant against televangelist Apollo Quiboloy and other KJC members.
READ: 2,000 cops surround KOJC home, Quiboloy’s arrest warrant served
According to Marcos, the intent of sending around 2,000 policemen to raid the 30-hectare KJC compound was “the only way to maintain the peace.”
“Kung kokonti, mas marami pang nasaktan na supporters ng KJC, maraming nasaktan na pulis dahil maglalabanan. Kung marami, tapos agad ang problema, so that’s what we’ve done,” he explained.
(If there were only a few, more KJC supporters would have been hurt, and many policemen would have been hurt because they would fight. If there are many, then the problem is over immediately, so that’s what we’ve done.)
Marcos also noted that he does not understand why Quiboloy is using his supporters to evade arrest.
“Wala namang kasalanan mga ‘yan (those people are innocent), they just believe, they are looking for an answer, a value system, and they think they have found it with Quiboloy. But they did not sign up to be in the frontline of this kind of thing that’s happening now, that they’ll protect him from arrest even when he has cases filed against him not only here in the Philippines but also in the US,” he said.
“I suppose I can understand their disagreement with us, even anger, but all the police are doing is enforcing the warrant of arrest against Apollo Quiboloy,” he added.
Quiboloy is facing child abuse cases before a Davao City court, as well as a standing arrest warrant for human trafficking issued by a Pasig City court.
Refusing to answer the cases, Quiboloy remains in hiding, with the Davao Police Regional Office saying that he is believed to be hiding inside the KJC compound.