DAVAO CITY, Philippines — Heavily armed operatives of the police Special Action Force (SAF) and Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) swooped down early yesterday on several properties owned by accused sex offender and human trafficker Apollo Quiboloy to serve arrest warrants for him and his accomplices, but went away empty handed.
In full battle gear, SAF commandos and CIDG operatives of Region 10 barged into several compounds owned by Quiboloy, but failed to find him and four of his alleged accomplices and members of his Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KOJC) religious sect identified as Ingrid Canada, Pauline Canada, Inteng Canada and Jackie Roy.
The compounds were in Davao City, Samal Island and Sarangani.
These were KOJC’s main compound beside the Davao International Airport, Prayer Mountain in Barangay Tamayong, Glory Mountain in Purok 6, Barangay Tamayong; QSands Baptismal Resort in the Island Garden City of Samal and the Kitbog Compound in Malungon, Sarangani.
Quiboloy lawyer Israelito Torreon said the situation started to become tense at around 3:45 a.m. when members of the raiding team – using ladders – scaled the high fence and gates of the KJC main compound on Diversion Road in the city to gain access to the sprawling property.
Followers of Quiboloy in the compound initially tried to stop the raiders but eventually relented.
CIDG and SAF members reportedly rounded up workers found inside the compound and did body searches on them.
The raiding teams also searched the premises of the Jose Maria Colleges, its dormitories, the Bible school, as well as the hangar where Quiboloy’s airplane and helicopters were kept.
Quiboloy has standing warrants of arrests from the Davao City and Pasig City courts for child sexual abuse and human trafficking.
Police Regional Office XI spokesperson Maj. Catherine dela Rey told The STAR in a phone interview that they were able to serve the warrants “peacefully” despite resistance from some of Quiboloy’s followers.
Torreon said the police were carrying only warrants of arrest but proceeded with searches on KOJC premises without presenting search warrants.
“They did not have a search warrant, only arrest warrant,” he said in an interview with SMNI News of Quiboloy.
He said Davao City Mayor Sebastian Duterte made a phone call to allow the raids to proceed, “para walang gulo (so there’ll be no trouble).” He described the police operation as “overkill,” claiming that the police destroyed the gate of KOJC Glory Mountain and handcuffed several workers.
Dela Rey, however, belied claims of overkill.
“We were just following the PNP operational procedure and were carrying just basic police equipment,” she said.
Dela Rey also denied reports that members of the Civil Disturbance Management of the Davao City Police Office were held inside the PRO XI headquarters with their mobile phones confiscated the night prior to the serving of the arrest warrants.
“That is not true. The CDM personnel of the DCPO were part of the units that served the warrants,” she pointed out.
PNP spokesperson Col.Jean Fajardo said they did not have specific details on the whereabouts of Quiboloy before the raids, but they were sure he was still in country based on records from the Bureau of Immigration.
Part of KOJC main headquarters is a giant coliseum called the Kingdome, which is said to be the biggest in the Philippines with a capacity of more than 75,000 people.
Two helicopters, believed to be carrying policemen, could be seen hovering above the KOJC compound during the raid. They failed to land reportedly due to obstructions placed on the landing area, including several vehicles.
Torreon said many church workers were hurt during the raids and they were preparing statements to support possible legal action against the raiders.
Former presidential spokesperson Harry Roque also described as “illegal” the raid on the properties of Quiboloy.
In an interview with “Storycon” on One News, Roque said an arrest warrant does not give the police the power to enter and search Quiboloy’s properties.
“What happened is that they have a lawful arrest warrant that resulted in an incidental search… Incidental search as a consequence of a lawful warrant of arrest is never allowed,” he added. — Diana Lyhd Suelto, Emmanuel Tupas, Janvic Mateo