VICE President Sara Duterte yesterday condemned what she called the “gross abuse of police power” in the enforcement of arrest warrants against Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KOJC) founder Apollo Quiboloy as administration lawmakers slammed her for supposedly shielding the fugitive religious leader.
The Vice President blamed the PNP’s “takeover” of the KOJC compound for the supposed “harassment of religious worshipers, the abuse of minors and the unnecessary loss of life.”
“Hindi ko tinututulan ang implementasyon ng anumang warrant of arrest na naaayon sa batas. Ngunit kailanman ay hindi katanggap-tanggap ang paggamit ng dahas laban sa mga inosenteng mamamayan at mga deboto ng Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KOJC) (I’m not opposing the implementation of any arrest warrant in accordance with the law. However, the use of force against innocent civilians and devotees of KOJC will never be acceptable),” she said in a statement.
One person died due to heart attack during the operation of the PNP Regional Office 11 at the KOJC compound in Buhangin, Davao City last Saturday, while 16 group members, including four minors, said they were injured after police allegedly used tear gas on them.
Warrants of arrest have been issued against the KOJC founder for child abuse and human trafficking by a Davao City court and Pasig City court, respectively.
The Senate has also issued a warrant of arrest against Quiboloy, who remains at large, for refusing to cooperate in the Senate investigation on his alleged sexual abuse and human trafficking acts.
Duterte, who has been consistently defending the fugitive Quiboloy while keeping silent on China’s illegal incursions in the West Philippine Sea (WPS), said the police’s acts “are not only a blatant violation of constitutionally protected rights but a betrayal of the trust that we, Filipinos, place in the very institution sworn to protect and serve us.”
“Hindi ko rin maiwasang matanong sa sarili kung ang paggamit ba ng di pangkaraniwang pwersa at ‘di makatarungang pang-aabuso sa ordinaryong Pilipino, upang maipatupad ang naturang warrant of arrest, ay dahil sa ang akusado ay isang kilalang Duterte supporter (I also can’t help but think if the use of extraordinary force and unjustifiable abuse of ordinary Filipinos to serve a warrant of arrest is happening because the accused is a known Duterte supporter),” she also said.
The Vice President, who has severed ties with President Marcos Jr. after resigning as education secretary last July, also apologized to the KOJC members for campaigning for him when they ran under the UniTeam ticket in 2022.
“Kaya nais ko ring humingi ng kapatawaran sa lahat ng miyembro, deboto at bumubuo ng Kingdom of Jesus Christ, sa paghikayat at pakiusap ko sa inyong iboto si Bongbong Marcos Jr. noong 2022. Nawa’y mapatawad ninyo ako (I also want to apologize to all members, devotees and the whole KOJC, for urging and imploring you to vote for Bongbong Marcos Jr. in 2022. I hope you can forgive me. You deserve better. Filipinos deserve better),” she said.
‘SHIELDING A FUGITIVE’
Administration lawmakers belonging to the “Young Guns” group hit the Vice President’s statements, saying she is obviously just trying to deflect the legal issues against her ally Quiboloy instead of respecting the rule of law.
“This is a clear attempt to deflect from the real issue at hand, which is Quiboloy’s refusal to submit to the law. Instead of apologizing for political choices, the Vice President should be focusing on ensuring that her ally faces justice,” said Zambales Rep. Jefferson Khonghun.
La Union Rep. Paolo Ortega V said it is “disheartening to see Vice President Duterte try to shift the narrative by invoking her role in the last election” when “the reality is that this situation is about holding a fugitive accountable for his actions, not about who voted for whom in 2022.”
Khonghun and Ortega also expressed dismay at the Vice President’s statement condemning what she called an “abuse of police power” during the PNP’s operation to serve arrest warrants on Quiboloy and his co-accused accused of child abuse and human trafficking at the KOJC compound in Davao City.
The lawmakers pointed out that the PNP was executing a legitimate court order, and any attempt to paint this as harassment or abuse is misleading and irresponsible.
“To call this an ‘abuse of power’ is a gross mischaracterization of the situation. The police were acting within the bounds of the law, and any confrontation that ensued was the result of resistance from within the compound, not police overreach,” said Ortega.
He stressed: “The law must prevail, and we expect all public officials, including the Vice President, to stand behind our institutions as they work to ensure that justice is served.”
Khonghun said: “No one is above the law, and that includes Pastor Quiboloy. The Vice President should be encouraging compliance with legal processes, not undermining them with baseless accusations and apologies that do nothing to address the real issue.”
‘ABUSIVE AND VIOLENT’
Former President Duterte, in a statement issued Saturday night, condemned what he described as the supposed “abusive and violent” enforcement of the arrest warrants against Quiboloy.
“Our country has never been in a more tragic state as it is today. Rights have been trampled upon and our laws, derided,” he said.
Duterte said he sympathizes with the KOJC members who became victims of political harassment, persecution, violence and abuse of authority and questioned how the current administration can guarantee the preservation of the constitutional rights of the Filipinos “when even the most fundamental of these rights are being blatantly violated.”
“This certainly puts a dark stain on the hands of those involved in (Saturday’s) incident, led by no less than the top police official of the region. 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 said.
“We call on all Filipinos, regardless of political persuasion, to offer prayers for peace and justice, and to spare our people of the unwarranted tension brought about by the reign of fear and terror by people sworn to uphold the law and protect the citizens of this country,” he added.
Manila Rep. Benny Abante, chairperson of the House Committee on Human Rights, said he found it “ironic” that the elder Duterte is now “speaking out in defense of the rights of his friend (Quiboloy), when he attached very little value to human rights during his administration’s war on illegal drugs.”
“Perhaps if the former president had emphasized the importance of human rights during his administration, then we would not have to investigate the thousands of extrajudicial killings that occurred during his presidency’s war on drugs,” Abante said.
The legislator, who is also a pastor, said it is “a tragic irony” that the statement of the former president “has come out while the Quad Comm probe is investigating the Duterte administration’s drug war that killed thousands of Filipinos, orphaned so many children, and traumatized families.”
Unlike the victims of the war on drugs, he said Quiboloy was afforded due process. “Not one, but two courts issued warrants of arrest. The police went into his compound with the end in view of arresting and detaining him. Even now, if he surrenders to authorities, Quiboloy will have his day in court,” he said.
“Unfortunately and tragically, thousands of our kababayan who were slain during the war on drugs were not given the same opportunity,” said Abante, whose panel is among the four committees investigating the extrajudicial killings (EJKs) in Duterte’s war on drugs and the other issues hounding his administration.
Reps. Jude Acidre (PL, Tingog) and Raul Angelo Bongalon (PL, AKo Bicol) said the former President should not be criticizing law enforcement agencies enforcing a legal warrant of arrest against a fugitive of the law, and instead should be supporting any action in upholding the law.
Bongalon said it would be best for the ex-president to just keep his mouth shut. “Alam nating lahat na kaibigang matalik ng dating pangulo ang object ng arrest warrant na ito.
Hindi ba dapat pairalin na lamang ang delicadeza at ‘wag na siyang magsalita tungkol dito? (We know that the subject of the warrant is a close friend of the former president. Out of self-respect, isn’t he supposed to just keep quiet?”)
INTERVENE
Former Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo, in a statement, said President Marcos Jr. “must intervene” in what he said is an “on-going monstrous irregularity, illegality and patent abuse of authority lest his silence is construed as acquiescence.”
“The rule of law is in tatters. The constitutional rights are wantonly violated,” Panelo said, adding that the police are tasked to enforce the law and not to violate it; to protect the people and not scare them; and to shield the citizenry from criminal violence and not to inflict it on them.
He said the incident at the KOJC compound shows the police’s “brazen impunity and utter disrespect” of the feelings of the religious group’s members and their supposed disregard to the constitutional rights to life, liberty and property of the workers and families residing in the KOJC premises.
Panelo said while warrant servers were allowed entry to the main entrance of the KOJC, other police members also destroyed the back gate leading to the private hangar, threw tear gas bombs to the KOJC members who were roused from their sleep causing eye injuries and abrasions to them as they scampered to safety.
“While criminality is on the upswing requiring police presence in criminal infested areas, the PNP Chief, instead of adding policemen in those sensitive areas, opted to take more than a thousand of them uprooted from their assigned stations and use them to serve a warrant of arrest to one man at the KOJC,” he said. — With Jocelyn Montemayor
