Lawyer Israelito R. Torreon and 11 others, including Sonshine Media Network International (SMNI) hosts Lorraine Badoy-Partosa and Jeffrey Celis, have been charged with sedition and inciting to sedition over efforts to stop the arrest of Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KOJC) founder Apollo C. Quiboloy.
The charges were filed before the Department of Justice (DOJ) by the Philippine National Police-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNP-CIDG) Chief Brigadier General Nicolas Torre III for the conduct of preliminary investigation.
“There are two cases that we filed today on same set of people,” Torre said.
Aside from Torreon who is Quiboloy's lawyer, Badoy and Celis, also charged were Eleanor Cardona, Carlo Catil, Kathleen Kaye Laurente, Trinidad S. Arafol, Lord Byron Cristobal, Joey Espina Sun, Esteban C. Lava, Jose A. Lim III, and lawyer Marie Dinah Tolentino-Fuentes.
They were charged with violations of Article 139 and Article 142 of the Revised Penal Code (RPC) in relation to Section 6 of Republic Act (RA) No. 10175, the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012.
Torre explained: “Ang mga inallege natin doon ang kanilang mga ginawa like (we alleged in the complaint that the respondents were) calling on the people to rise against the government, to prevent the police from serving the warrant of arrest, and many others.”
The complaints were filed following the arrest of Quiboloy and four co-accused last Sept. 8 at the KOJC compound by the PNP that was led by Torre, who at that time headed the Police Regional Office-Davao Region (PRO-Davao).
The PNP implemented arrest warrants issued against Quiboloy and his co-accused who are facing charges of qualified trafficking in persons and child abuse allegedly committed in 2011 against a 17-year-old girl.
“Nakita niyo naman (You saw) the government is serving a warrant of arrest against the five fugitives and they (respondents) are preventing us from doing so,” Torre said.