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
MANILA, Philippines — The Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) filed a sedition case against Atty. Israelito Torreon, lawyer of Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KJC) leader Pastor Apollo Quiboloy, former National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) spokesperson Lorraine Marie Badoy-Partosa, and 10 KJC members.
Also named in the complaint are:
- Confessed former rebel Jeffrey Celis a.k.a. Ka Eric,
- Eleanor Cardona,
- Carlo Catiil,
- Kathleen Kaye Laurente,
- Trinidad Arafol,
- Lord Byron Cristobal,
- Joey Espina Sun,
- Esteban C. Lava,
- Jose Lim III,
- Atty. Marie Dinah Tolentino’
- and several John and Jane Does
Based on the complaint filed before the Department of Justice (DOJ), Torreon and other respondents barricaded the KJC compound when the police tried to serve the arrest warrant to Quiboloy on Aug. 24.
“Respondent Torreon, Eleonor Cardona, Carlo Catiil, Lorraine Badoy-Partosa, Jeffrey Celis, Kathleen Kay Laurente, Trinidad Arafol along with other supporters and members of the KJC, barricaded the gate and manifested their opposition to the conduct of the operation of the KJC,” read the complaint.
The complaint also stated that vehicles of KJC members and supporters barricaded the highway and attacked members of the police’s Civil Disturbance Unit (CDM).
“Protesters began throwing monoblock chairs and stones at the CDM contingents. They also sprayed fire extinguishers and mocked the officers,” the complaint stated adding that one police officer sustained [a] knee injury. With reports from Jason Sigales