SENATE deputy minority leader Risa Hontiveros yesterday said the PNP should “stop making excuses” and instead just proceed in canceling the gun permits issued to fugitive Kingdom og Jesus Christ (KOJC) leader Pastor Apollo Quiboloy.
Hontiveros made the appeal after the PNP said refused to revoke Quiboloy’s License to Own and Possess Firearms (LTOPF), saying that doing so is not in accordance with the law.
The PNP likewise said it is unaware that Quiboloy has a private army, which Hontiveros found “incredible” amid the proliferation in social media platforms of pictures of KOJC members in camouflage uniforms and bearing arms.
“Ang mag netizen alam na may private army siya, tapos ang sarili nating kapulisan hindi alam? Imposible. Di ba dapat mas kapaki-pakinabang ang intel unit niyo? Konting search lang sa social media, lumalabas na ‘yan agad — mga armadong sundalo na nagte-training at ang mga caption tila may pagbabanta pa sa sinumang lalapit sa poon nila (Netizens know that Quiboloy has a private army, but our own police force is not aware of it? That’s impossible. The PNP’s intel unit should be more reliable. If you search social media sites, there are plenty of pictures of his armed soldiers training, with captions threatening those who would want to get near their god),” Hontiveros said.
The senator insisted the PNP should immediately revoke Quiboloy’s firearms license, stressing that the religious leader now has a “legal disability” because he has two cases pending in courts with penalties of more than two years.
Hontiveros pointed out that under the PNP’s revised Implementing Rules and Regulations, legal disability is defined as the loss by the licensee of the legal qualification or capacity to own and possess firearms.
“Sa dami at bigat ng pending cases ni Quiboloy, siguro naman puwede nang bawiin ang mga armas niya. Sa kasong human trafficking palang, non-bailable at lifetime imprisonment na ang parusa. Kaya ano pa ang hinihintay ng PNP? Nakapagtataka ang bagal (The PNP can revoke his firearms licenses since he has several pending cases in court. In the human trafficking case alone, it is a non-bailable case with a penalty of life imprisonment. So, what is the PNP waiting for? I’m wondering why the PNP is very slow to act),” she said.
Quiboloy is facing charges of human trafficking, and sexual and physical abuses before the Pasig an Davao regional trial courts, respectively.
The two courts have issued warrants of arrest against Quiboloy.
Aside from the two courts, the Senate and the House of Representatives have also issued arrest orders against the pastor for his refusal to participate in congressional hearings.
Hontiveros said that if the PNP is really true to its mandate, it should have exerted all efforts to implement the arrest orders of the Pasig and Davao courts.
She again appealed to PNP chief Rommel Marbil “to lead better” in the manhunt for Quiboloy.
