Dutertes condemn police service of arrest warrant on Quiboloy, four others
Vice President Sara Duterte and her father, former President Rodrigo Duterte condemned the Philippine National Police (PNP) for its “gross abuse” of power while serving the arrest warrant against pastor Apollo Quiboloy last Saturday.
Around 2,000 police entered the Kingdom of Jesus Christ compound in Davao to serve the warrants of arrest against Quiboloy and four associates.
As of Sunday, the police are still in the sprawling compound which is around 30 hectares.
Philippine National Police chief Gen. Rommel Francisco Marbil, in a press briefing in Davao City, said the policemen will remain in the compound to find Quiboloy and serve the arrest warrant.
He added that policemen have found persons who were allegedly victims of human trafficking. He said this introduces a new angle in the investigation.
In a statement on Saturday, the vice president she was not against the police serving the warrant against the embattled pastor but against the use of violence against his followers.
“I vehemently condemn the gross abuse of police power in the takeover of the KOJC (Kingdom of Jesus Christ) compound earlier today, which led to the harassment of religious worshipers, the abuse of minors, and the unnecessary loss of life,” she said.
She also apologized to the religious group for convincing them to vote for President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr.
In a separate statement, the former president said that the country “has never been in a more tragic state as it is today”.
“Rights have been trampled upon and our laws, derided,” he said.
He said that the PNP serving the arrest warrant resulted in “a violent confrontation and the unfortunate death of one KOJC member and the requiring of immediate medical attention of many others”.
Maj. Gen. Nicolas Torre, the Davao regional police director, only one supporter died and it was from a heart attack.
“We sympathize with the members of the KoJC for having become victims of political harassment, persecution, violence, and abuse of authority. This certainly puts a dark stain on the hands of those involved in today's incident, led by no less than the top police official of the region,” said the former president.
“We call on the remaining decent and patriotic members of our government not to allow themselves to be used and to be abusive and violent in enforcing illegal orders,” he added.
“Again, let us ask this administration how it can guarantee the preservation of the constitutional rights of our fellow Filipinos when even the most fundamental of these rights are being blatantly violated?” he said.
The PNP defended their implementation of the arrest warrant.
In an interview with dzBB, PNP spokesperson Col. Jean Fajardo said their operation in the KOJC compound was not overkill.
“You know, if you go to the place where we implemented the warrant of arrest, you’ll see that it’s a huge place. We are talking of more or less 30 hectares and you can see the resistance among the members and supporters of Pastor Quiboloy and the others,” Fajardo said.
“So you can just imagine that if we only deploy 50 or 100 personnel, we can easily be pushed aside. Even now that we have deployed forces, we are receiving all kinds of insults and curses, but we remain committed to continuing the search for Quiboloy and the four other accused,” she added.
“We hope that our country would understand that this is not about going against a sect or a church and this is not about violating their religious freedom but this is the mandate of the PNP and we are just implementing the warrant of arrest issued by the court,” she said. Jaspearl Tan/DMS
