PNP operation at KOJC compound a 'mission failure,' says lawyer

Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KOJC) legal counsel Israelito Torreon said that the ongoing operation to hunt for the group's founder Pastor Apollo Quiboloy was “a mission failure.”

In a statement on Tuesday, the lawyer criticized Davao Region police chief General Nicolas Torre’s claim that Quiboloy was “just walking around” the KOJC compound.

“[It] is ludicrous and incredible knowing that the PNP has poured all its resources and high-tech equipment here just to look for Pastor Apollo Quiboloy… As a matter of fact, his declaration that Pastor Apollo C. Quiboloy is “just walking around here” completely destroys any AND all legal cover for the continuous drilling and tunneling of the JMC Compound and the sequestration of the KOJC Cathedral as well as some rooms of JMC and other structures,” he said.

Torreon said that if the police believed Quiboloy was at the KOJC compound, there was no need to dig a tunnel in the JMC basement, “a school which is owned by an entity separate and distinct from the accused.”

He added the PNP's tunneling operations were unjustified.

“The entire world has seen that we tried to gain access to the JMC Basement in order to confirm whether or not the tunneling activities are in fact true but the police personnel there prevented us from entering the same. This proves that all declarations emanating from him are lies. If he has nothing to hide, why deny access to the JMC basement?” Torreon said.

He denied allegations that there was a room owned by Quiboloy surrounded by other rooms where “women and minors” stayed, stating that it was an attempt to demean the pastor.

He also said that the PNP official's claims of death threats against him and his family were “dirty attempts” to “win public sympathy" and to hide his "mission failure."

“To use the presence of minors and women in the KOJC compound and give it a twist, clearly implying that Pastor Apollo Quiboloy is a child or women abuser, is a cheap tack which is clearly resorted to just to hide the blatant fact that he has turned an arrest warrant as a license to convert the KOJC Compound into a police garrison,” Torreon said.

“The fact remains that he has caused a lot of mess in this continuing hullabaloo which resulted in the death of one person, causing the hospitalization of several persons, padlocking and imprisoning 29 persons, seizing several motor vehicles, sequestering the KOJC Cathedral and other rooms of JMC, engaging in tunneling activities in the JMC Basement among others. Hence, it is more than high time for him to be told, Sir please, enough is enough. Stop these illegal operations at once and leave the KOJC Compound,” he added.

Earlier, Torre said Quiboloy is still at the KOJC compound.

"Hanggang ngayon, naniniwala kami na nandyan siya. Tinatawanan kami. Sige lang. There is always time for everything. Darating at darating, mahuhuli rin natin yan. Just a matter of time," he said.

The PNP has been trying to serve a warrant of arrest against Quiboloy since August 24, deploying an initial number of 2,000 police forces to enforce said warrant.

The operation has resulted in a massive protest, as well as the death of one individual.

The KOJC has been calling on the PNP to stop its operation in the compound as the Commission on Human Rights conducts investigations into possible violations during the raid.—Jiselle Anne Casucian/LDF, GMA Integrated News