DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 07 September) – Senator Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa appealed to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to restore normalcy at the Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KOJC) compound amid the ongoing tension between the followers of fugitive Pastor Apollo C. Quiboloy and law enforcers.
Dela Rosa, chair of the subcommittee on the privilege speech on the PNP operation in the KOJC under the Senate committee on justice and human rights, said he has run out of reasons to justify the prolonged police operations at the KOJC compound.
The senator aired the appeal after Police Regional Office-11 director Brig. Gen. Nicolas Torre III presented the side of the police, including the challenges encountered, in the ongoing operations.
“Kung nakikinig sana si President Bongbong Marcos ngayon (If President Bongbong Marcos is listening now), I am appealing to you Mr. President, please, listen to these people. Mr. President, sana ibalik mo ang buhay ng mga taong ito (I hope you can bring the lives of these people back) to normal not only to KOJC members but also to your policemen,” he said.
Before that, dela Rosa had asked Torre to consider a tactical retreat “in the name of humanity.”
The lawmaker asked Torre how long the police intend to stay inside the compound, saying their presence is already affecting the students and the teachers at Jose Maria College (JMC), a school inside the 23-hectare compound.
“You are not preventing them but kung ako estudyante, hindi ako papasok dyan na ganyang kadaming police, hindi ako papasok dyan. Ako titser, hindi ako comfortable na magklase dyan kung ganyang kadaming police dyan sa loob (if I were the student, I would not enter with so many police there. As a teacher, I would not feel comfortable holding classes with so many police inside),” he said.
But Torre maintained that police do not prevent students and teachers from attending classes at the school, one of the structures being searched by authorities.
During the ocular inspection on Friday, Senators Robinhood Padilla and dela Rosa, accompanied by media, found a portion of the school basement that appeared to have been recently excavated and filled with freshly dried concrete.
“I think more than me, Sir, there is one person that we can ask to end all of this, Sir. I think we know who he is,” Torre said, referring to Quiboloy who is believed hiding inside the compound.
Dela Rosa said he believes the police are being pressured by their commanders to arrest Quiboloy because “they will not give you 3,000 people from other regional police offices and will not support you with that gargantuan number of troops to arrest one wanted person if you don’t have imprimatur from the higher-ups.”
“I cannot give you a direct order although gustong gusto ko talaga sabihan kayo na umalis na kayo dyan (I really want to ask you to leave). But I cannot give you a direct order. Otherwise, it would be a legislative overreach. I am not part of your chain of command,” he said.
He said that as part of its oversight legislative function the Senate could give “recommendation how to do things properly in the name of humanity.”
He said the continued police operation is detrimental for KOJC members and police officers.
“Magiging normal ang buhay nila, magiging normal ang buhay ninyo. Kung meron man kayong (Their lives will be back to normal, your lives will be back to normal. If you have) information, go ahead. Nobody’s stopping you. Pero kung ganyan tuloy tuloy na lang kayo (But if you keep doing this), I am running out of reasons to explain to the people, why are these policemen still there after how many days?” he said.
Torre, however, was firm in saying that the police operations will continue until Quiboloy is arrested as they have positive information based on intelligence that he is still inside the compound.
“If only the KOJC members will cooperate with us. They are the ones impeding us if we want to go into a building. Why impede us? Stay away. It’s not you that we are targeting. We are looking for Apollo Quiboloy. Those are the people we are interested in. We are not interested in Dr. (Lorraine) Badoy, we are not interested in Marlon Jacobo, we are not interested in Banay By, we are not interested in din anybody, except for the five,” he said.
Quiboloy is facing charges of child abuse and qualified human trafficking, along with co-accused Jackielyn Roy, Cresente Canada, Paulene Canada, Ingrid Canada, and Sylvia Cemañes. Paulene was arrested last July 11 at her residence in Emily Homes Subdivision in Barangay Cabantian here.
The suspects have two warrants of arrest issued by the Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 12 in Davao City and the RTC in Pasig City in April this year.
Last May 28, the Supreme Court’s Second Division ordered the transfer of the two criminal cases from the RTC in Davao to the RTC in Quezon City.
“Let us look for them freely in these areas… the court orders still subsist, and it will be a great dereliction of our duty if we will stop and we will not comply with the court order,” Torre said. (Antonio L. Colina IV/MindaNews)
