Arrest Of Apollo Quiboloy

On August 24, 2024, a standoff began at the Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KOJC) compound in Catitipan, Buhangin, Davao City, Philippines, as the Philippine National Police (PNP) attempted to serve an arrest warrant against Apollo Quiboloy, the founder and leader of the KOJC, on charges of sexual misconduct. Four other associates, namely Cresente Canada, Ingrid Canada, Sylvia Cemañes and Jackielyn Roy, were also included in the arrest warrant on charges of child abuse. Quiboloy had hidden himself and other associates within the premises of the KOJC compound, where the KJC King Dome and Jose Maria College are located. Members of the KOJC gathered that same night to express solidarity with Quiboloy and protest the attempts to arrest him.

The standoff resulted in clashes, leading to several wounded on both sides. Within the first 24 hours of the raid, one KOJC member died from a heart attack. Former president Rodrigo Duterte and incumbent vice president Sara Duterte expressed negative sentiments toward the raid, with the latter attending a KOJC-organized event within the compound and separately suggesting that the PNP's "extraordinary" actions were political in nature. Police authorities, however, said that the PNP was simply serving an arrest warrant, with the large number of policemen serving to cover the vast area of the compound to search for Quiboloy. The Commission on Human Rights stated that it was continuously monitoring the situation in the compound and had been since the raid began.

Background

Apollo Quiboloy founded the Restorationist Christian denomination Kingdom of Jesus Christ on September 1, 1985, in Davao City, naming himself its Executive Pastor and claiming to be the "Appointed Son of God". Since then, the congregation has grown into a global religious organization claiming as many as 6 million members and adherents worldwide.

On November 10, 2021, Quiboloy, along with other members of KOJC, was indicted by a federal grand jury in California, United States, for alleged sexual misconduct involving minors, human trafficking, and fraud. A previous indictment in 2020 had covered other defendants, but had not included Quiboloy, who was added in the 2021 indictment along with five other new defendants who were not included in the prior indictment. The Federal Bureau of Investigation led the investigation of the case and designated Quiboloy as a wanted suspect for sex abuse and human trafficking.

Events

Prior events

Actions by the judiciary and the police

Quiboloy had been charged with alleged child and sexual abuse under Republic Act No. 7610—both previously dismissed by a Davao City court in 2020 but later refiled; and qualified human trafficking under RA No. 9208, as amended before the Pasig Regional Trial Court (RTC). On May 28, the Supreme Court granted the request of the Department of Justice (DOJ) for the transfer of cases against Quiboloy from Davao City to Quezon City. Cresente, Paulene, and Ingrid Canada; Jackielyn Roy; and Sylvia Cemañes had been charged as well.

On April 26, the Philippine National Police (PNP) confirmed the revocation of the firearms licenses of Quiboloy. Cresente Canada later surrendered at least 21 firearms to the PNP on May 27.

On August 8, the Court of Appeals, granting the petition filed by the Anti–Money Laundering Council, ordered the freezing of Quiboloy's assets, which includes the bank accounts of himself, the KOJC and the Swara Sug Media Corporation.

Arrest warrants against Quiboloy, et al.

Arrest warrants against Quiboloy and five associates were issued by the Davao City RTC Branch 12 and by a Pasig court. The former was served in April at the KOJC compound in Davao City. All co-accused either were arrested or surrendered to authorities, but later released on bail. Meanwhile, in March, Quiboloy was ordered arrested by the Senate for his refusal to attend the hearings, and went into hiding thereafter.

Former president Rodrigo Duterte, Quiboloy's close ally which would be the KOJC property administrator, advised him to "just get yourself arrested" or risk facing arrest. In April, Quiboloy, through an audio recording, refused to be caught alive and alleged an assassination plot against him by the Philippine and United States governments.

June 10 raids and subsequent events

On June 10, in a coordinated yet failed effort by the security forces for the arrests, five properties in Davao City, Island Garden City of Samal, and Malungon, Sarangani, were raided; beginning to cause tensions between the PNP and the KOJC. In Davao, joint forces of the PNP – Special Action Force (PNP–SAF) and the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG), consisting of around 100 police officers, stormed the KOJC compound in Buhangin District, facing members which protested against the operation. One KOJC member died from heart attack during the raid. The operation was condemned by former president Duterte.

On July 8, Interior Secretary Benhur Abalos offered a reward for information leading to Quiboloy's arrest. A lower reward was given as well for the five co-accused. Three days later, Paulene Canada was arrested at her residence in Davao City. President Bongbong Marcos later challenged Quiboloy to appear and face his accusations.

A few days before the raid, Police Regional Office – Region XI (Davao Region) director Brigadier General Nicolas Torre III told the Senate that authorities were allowed to pursue the search, as a Pasig court issued an alias warrant of arrest against Quiboloy. He later stated the police's willingness to serve arrest without any casualty if Quiboloy surrenders.

Police operation and standoff

At 4:00 a.m. of August 24, a composite police team, led by regional police chief Torre and composed of 2,000 personnel from Regions XI, XII and XIII, initiated another search in the KOJC compound in an attempt to arrest Quiboloy and four others. They reportedly entered the compound after negotiations with Israelito Torreon, Quiboloy's legal counsel. Torre said that based on their informants, the subject's movements inside the compound are well-planned, making the search difficult. He also said the police familiarized first with the property for future searches. The 30-hectare compound, situated near Francisco Bangoy International Airport, has a complex infrastructure that includes underground facilities along with 42 buildings.

The operation caused heightened tensions, with some members reportedly affected by tear gas. Several were hospitalized, apparently due to trauma; at least sixteen others, including four children, reportedly fainted. A male church member suffered cardiac arrest which, according to PNP–Davao Region, had been manning a watchtower at the back of the compound for days without sleep. He was shortly pronounced dead on arrival at the Southern Philippines Medical Center. Torreon, said that the group searched the property at least thrice, and the KOJC's school, the Jose Maria College, seven times, but with no results.

Police later set up a roadblock outside the compound; and according to Senator Ronald dela Rosa who then visited the area, detected a "heartbeat" underground using a specialized detector. At night, upon Torre's order for further searches, another contingent of police officers entered the premises.

On the evening of August 25, KOJC members and Quiboloy's supporters gathered in front of the compound to protest the police search; set up a barricade at the Carlos P. Garcia National Highway, blocking a portion of the road and hampered access to nearby airport; and burned tires in retaliation to the police's alleged use of tear gas against them. Before 3:00 p.m. the following day, the police gave them an ultimatum to disperse peacefully to open the road to motorists, which the latter refused. This resulted in a violent confrontation, ending with the arrest of 18 KOJC members who were charged with obstruction of justice.

On August 27, the Davao RTC Branch 15 issued a temporary protection order to the KOJC, directing the PNP to cease actions that threatening the KOJC members' safety and security, and instructing the removal of all obstructions to access to and from the compound. Interior Secretary Abalos said that the police search will continue to serve the warrant in the premises. The following day, the court issued a clarificatory order, noting that the TPO validates the processes related to the warrants. In the afternoon, the DOJ issued a statement saying the police operations are legal. Exactly a week later, the Court of Appeals 22nd Division in Cagayan de Oro promulgated a resolution nullifying the TPO, stating that the Davao City court acted without authority on the petition for writ of ''amparo''.

Also, on August 27, PNP Public Information Office Chief and spokesperson PCol. Jean Fajardo admitted that due to the large size of the compound and the lack of a blueprint to guide the police, it is likely they have yet to cover half of the compound's total area. According to CNN, 2,000 police officers are still searching the compound.

On August 30, Vice President Sara Duterte visited the wake of KOJC member Edwin E. Cababat who died from a heart attack while manning a watchtower during the first day of the standoff.

On September 1, the KOJC organized an event at the compound commemorating its 39th anniversary, with Vice President Sara Duterte attending the event and expressing her support for the church while repeating her apology to them for her endorsement of Marcos in the 2022 Philippine presidential election.

On September 3, Torreon, along with members of the media, attempted to enter the JMC basement and the KOJC cathedral for inspection but were barred by the police. The KOJC legal counsel noted alleged digging activities in the basement and that the cathedral was designated as an advanced command post. On September 5, they reported the significant decrease of the regional police personnel, some being pulled out from the compound, a day prior to the Senate hearing and ocular inspection of the property. Police were reportedly seen smuggling in cement and cleaning up the area, with damaged glass panes evident.

On September 8, Abalos announced in a brief Facebook post that Quiboloy was captured, thus ending the manhunt inside the KOJC property. Torreon stated Quiboloy voluntarily surrendered to spare his followers from violence, to which President Marcos acknowledged Quiboloy as displaying "a modicum of leadership". The police officers in the area were eventually pulled out. The PNP later said that Quiboloy, as well as his four aides, surrendered to the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (ISAFP), four hours after being given a PNP-issued 24-hour ultimatum, as negotiations for their surrender had begun at 1:30 p.m. They were taken to Metro Manila and are detained at PNP headquarters in Camp Crame, Quezon City.

Later in an exclusive interview, Davao del Norte Governor Edwin Jubahib said he helped to facilitate negotiations for the surrender of Quiboloy, with dialogues between the camp of KOJC and the ISAFP conducted around seven times in Davao City since August 30. As President Marcos said, Quiboloy requested the military presence during his arrest in the compound; he added that the augmentation from the AFP is common. A source from ABS-CBN News said Quiboloy was seen inside the ACQ building, also known as the Bible School Building, as early as September 6, and hid until his surrender.

Overall, more than a hundred people were hurt in the standoff. Sixty police officers were reportedly injured, while Torreon claimed at least 54 church members were hospitalized for injuries or heart and anxiety attacks. Also, throughout the raid, complaints were filed by the police against 29 male KOJC members, including an unspecified number of students, all arrested at the barricade. Each are facing up to three separate complaints which includes obstruction of justice, violation of the public assembly law, and assaulting authorities. They were released on bail shortly.

Reactions

The PNP–Davao Region has defended their operation as legitimate. However, the legal counsel of KOJC (Israelito Torreon and Ferdinand Topacio) have criticized what they assert as the illegal search operation being done by the PNP. Torreon claimed that instead of a court-issued search warrant, the police only presented an alias arrest warrant which had been served earlier that month by the National Bureau of Investigation. Some KOJC members later filed a complaint against the police, which said sustained injuries in the August 24 operation. KOJC lawyers are also planning to file countercharges against the police in connection with the August 26 incident.

The lawyers also planned to file charges against the police for impounding the fire truck owned by the church's fast-food store which, as the regional police revealed, was used to block the highway during a prayer rally at the first day of standoff. The police has also impounded another fire truck and two more vehicles.

On August 26, former presidential spokesperson Harry Roque and KOJC supporters held an indignation rally at Liwasang Bonifacio in Manila, calling for the resignation of President Marcos from public office. The operation was also criticized by the Duterte family, where Quiboloy is among their known supporters. Former president Rodrigo and his daughter, vice president Sara, both accused the Marcos administration of sowing "fear and terror." The vice president's brother, Davao City mayor Sebastian Duterte, criticized police usage of excessive force, which the vice president suspected as politically motivated. The vice president, in her statement, expressed regret for encouraging KOJC members to vote Marcos in 2022. KOJC supported the candidacies of Marcos and Duterte in the elections.

On September 4, President Marcos, responding to the condition set by the Quiboloy camp that the latter would surface if there is a "written declaration" against turning him over to the United States for "extraordinary rendition," described this as "immaterial", saying that it should be presented to the courts. Marcos also said that it is the vice president Duterte's right to apologize for endorsing his presidential bid, adding that he has not spoken to her since the latter's resignation from his Cabinet. Upon Quiboloy's arrest, Marcos commended the PNP for the operation, assuring of transparent and lawful due process and there would be no special treatment to him.

Senator dela Rosa initially urged Quiboloy to surrender "because there is really a court-issued warrant", and emphasized the need for resolution. In his privilege speech a week later, however, he called on President Marcos to order the withdrawal of police officers at the KOJC compound, saying that the church's religious freedom and JMC students' academic rights had been affected. Senator Imee Marcos condemned the "excessive show of force", citing a large number of police personnel involved in the operation. Secretary Abalos urged Quiboloy to surrender, he stated "We have a process, we have a justice system we have to follow".

Senator Risa Hontiveros first blamed Quiboloy for his absence in the Senate hearing that worsened the situation. Following Quiboloy's arrest, Hontiveros commended the authorities for their efforts while saying in her statement that Quiboloy "will be held accountable" and that their investigation would continue "to seek an end to the systematic abuse of society's most vulnerable."

The Commission on Human Rights urged both parties to stay calm and follow the judicial process.

The Philippine Council of Evangelical Churches called on Quiboloy and his co-accused to surrender to the police. The group also called on the police to comply to ethical measures in serving the arrest warrants; as well on politicians to act as peacemakers and not turn such operation into an issue for their own political gain.

After the apprehension of Quiboloy, Caritas Philippines president and Kidapawan Bishop Jose Colin Bagaforo

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