MANILA – Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KOJC) leader Apollo Quiboloy was forced to surrender to authorities after he was "cornered" inside the church compound in Davao City, a ranking police official said on Monday.
After 16 days, the police said Quiboloy’s deception game ended, with dud surrender offers meant to plot his escape.
In a press briefing at Camp Crame in Quezon City, Police Regional Office-Davao (PRO-11) Director Brig. Gen. Nicolas Torre III said they gave in to the request of other KOJC members to put off the assault in exchange for the guarantee that Quiboloy would eventually give himself up.
Torre said the PRO-11 planned to enter the ACQ College of Ministries, where Quiboloy and his aides Jackielyn Roy, Ingrid Canada, Cresente Canada and Sylvia Cemañes were believed to be hiding.
The assault at 1 p.m. on Saturday, to be conducted by some 1,000 police officers, was deferred to give way to security preparations for the following day’s Bar Examinations.
By Sunday morning, Torre deployed Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) and Special Action Force (SAF) officers.
“I placed 500 SAF members and 500 SWAT members simultaneously in that building. When they saw that buildup, we heard some surrender feelers at 10 a.m. We got a call from the NHQ (national headquarters) because it seems the negotiations are on a high level," Torre said.
According to PNP spokesperson Col. Jean Fajardo in an interview at Camp Crame on Sunday night, Quiboloy and his group gave up at 5:30 p.m. and were flown out of Davao City by a military aircraft one hour later.
They landed at the Villamor Air Base in Pasay City at 8:30 p.m. and arrived in Camp Crame where they underwent medical examination and booking procedures at about 9:10 p.m.
Torre said the 30-hectare KOJC compound was completely sealed by police officers to prevent any possibility of Quiboloy’s escape.
“Don’t take it against me but it’s really on my part that the Lord intervened for this to happen. The Lord loves the policemen because it did not end up in a scenario that could endanger the lives of many people. This was resolved in our favor,” Torre said.
PNP chief Gen. Rommel Francisco Marbil supported Torre, saying they were "80 to 90 percent" sure that Quiboloy was inside the KOJC compound all along.
Marbil said they received at least two surrender feelers after some 2,400 police officers started occupying the KOJC compound on Aug. 24.
“We already observed that they were fooling us. They prevented us from entering certain areas and when we were about to enter areas where we believed he (Quiboloy) was, their attorney would call and would say that he would surrender. They did that several times,” Marbil said.
Quiboloy and his co-accused, all covered in face masks, were presented during the press briefing.
Later, the police returned the arrest warrants for sexual abuse and qualified human trafficking charges to the Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 106 and the Pasig RTC Branch 159, respectively.
The five are detained at the PNP Custodial Center.
DND bucks custody transfer
The Department of National Defense (DND), meanwhile, said it would oppose any motion to transfer Quiboloy to the custody of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).
“AFP facilities are subject to strict operational security protocols, thus, the AFP is not the proper agency to have custody of suspects in criminal cases," DND spokesperson Arsenio Andolong said in a statement.
In a media interview in Camp Crame, KOJC legal counsel Israelito Torreon said they filed a motion before the court for the transfer of Quiboloy’s custody to the military, citing security reasons, among others. (with Priam Nepomuceno/PNA)
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