BLOCKED Police civil disturbance management troops stop Kingdom of Jesus Christ legal counsel Israelito Torreon from going into the basement of Jose Maria College on Tuesday. The police had declared the area off-limits since entering the premises on Aug. 24 in search of fugitive televangelist Apollo Quiboloy and four other KJC members. —Joselle R. Badilla
DAVAO CITY, Philippines — Police Brig. Gen. Nicolas Torre III said on Tuesday that it might take at least a month to search the intricate networks of rooms and passageways within the compound of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KJC) here, where fugitive Pastor Apollo Quiboloy is believed to be in hiding.
But even this could not be an assurance that they might find the elusive pastor wanted for sexual abuse, child abuse, and human trafficking charges in courts in the cities of Davao and Pasig.
As the search entered its eleventh day on Tuesday, Torre told reporters that the maze that characterized the buildings they entered inside the massive compound had at first disoriented the police troops, as the unfamiliar layout made it easy for outsiders to get lost.
READ: Half of Quiboloy’s KJC compound inspected, search for hideout narrows
Torre described entering a room with a search team of 70 policewomen and security officers but they got lost inside and came out an hour later in three different places, the whole team already broken into three different groups. “We entered the same room together through a single passageway and we came out already broken into three groups.”
Torre was optimistic they would find Quiboloy in the end.
He also cited the statement made by lawyer Domingo Cayosa, former president of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP), who said there was no limit to the implementation of the warrant of arrest, especially when there was a reasonable basis that the subject of the arrest was just within the premises.
To hasten the search, police have called on the builders of the KJC structures to share the information with authorities.
A police official involved in the ongoing raid told several reporters they have taken hold of the building plans of several KJC structures.
“And based on our ocular inspection, there is a big difference between what is indicated in the blueprints and what was actually built,” the official revealed.
Presence of minors
On Tuesday, Torre said they alerted concerned authorities about the presence of minors between the ages of 13 and 15 that policewomen search teams found in a room inside a school building within the KJC compound on Monday.
KJC members, through a live post on the Quiboloy-owned SMNI, said Torre’s statement that “insinuated that there had been a sex den” within the facility was “malicious” and was done to “demonize” Quiboloy and the KJC.
Torre, however, did not use those words when he reported the presence of minors. He told reporters at Camp Quintin Merecido here on Tuesday that he sent 60 police women teams on Monday to search the school building. KJC lawyers, however, only allowed 10 of the policewomen, broken into two teams, to go inside.
The search teams reported seeing minors between 13 to 15 years old “sleeping” inside the building at around 6 p.m. on Monday, prompting Torres to alert agencies tasked to taking care of minors.
According to Torre, they need to go back to the school building, as all searches were being done “according to the terms of the KJC.” “We need to conduct the search on our terms,” said Torre.
“We already agreed to their demand that policewomen should do the search. But 10 women were not enough to search the whole place. We will have to reinspect that building again,” Torre said. “We are coordinating with proper authorities because we are not the authorities concerned on the matter.”
Lawyer Israelito Torreon, Quiboloy’ lead counsel, said he still has to verify this information about minors but he said KJC had been an affiliate of the Children’s Joy Foundation, which “caters to orphans who do not have anyone to care for them.”
“This latest report is another attempt of the police to feed wrong information to the public to paint a bad image of Pastor Apollo Quiboloy and somehow lends legitimacy to their ‘illegal’ operations, now on its 11th day at the KJC compound,” he added.
Diggings
Earlier, Torreon posted photos of the digging that has reached eight meters allegedly being done in the JMC basement, a photo of which he claimed was sent to him by a “police contact.” Only the police had access to the area, he said.
At 2:45 p.m. on Tuesday, a brief commotion ensued when Torreon, accompanied by the media, tried to access three of the basement’s entrances to check if there was indeed diggings going on but he was prevented by the police.
Torre refused to comment on whether there were indeed such diggings, saying, “Just let Torreon prove his claims.”
Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla, while in Cagayan de Oro City on Tuesday, shrugged off suggestions by Torreon for a “judicial imprimatur” (judicial approval) on the ongoing activities of the police raiders inside the sect’s sprawling headquarters.
“The police should have to do what it takes to do it,” Remulla said of the need to employ gadgets and to continue to plod on with the operation until the subjects of the warrant are arrested.
Remulla also said it was not unusual that the search has entered its eleventh day.
The sounds of heartbeats detected by radars have been used by police raiders to justify their continued search for the five fugitives. —with reports from Joselle R. Badilla and Ryan D. Rosauro