Police General Rommel Francisco Marbil, chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP), on Friday, June 14, came to the defense of the cops involved in a recent raid at the private properties of controversial Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KOJC) leader Pastor Apollo Quiboloy in Davao City.
Marbil said the raiding teams composed of more than a hundred personnel from the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG), Special Action Force (SAF), and police regional units in Northern Mindanao (Region 10), Soccsksargen (Region 12), and Caraga (Region 13) only did their job in serving a warrant of arrest against Quiboloy and five others on June 10.
According to the top cop, Quiboloy has turned fugitive after evading arrest warrants for human trafficking and child abuse issued by the courts in Pasig City and Davao City.
“Ang hinuhuli natin is a fugitive of the law. I just want to make it clear, hindi po mga ordinaryong tao ito. Anim po silang hinahanap natin, ang kaso nila is child exploitation, illegal human trafficking and these are no bail [charges] (We are arresting a fugitive of the law. I just want to make it clear, these are not ordinary persons. We’re finding six persons with cases for child exploitation, illegal human trafficking and these are no bail charges),” Marbil said in a radio interview over TV5’s 92.3 True FM.
Marbil said the PNP stands ready to face any charges that may be thrown against its leaders and personnel, noting that the organization will assist all the police officers who may be sued in connection with the raid.
“Hindi naman ho kami natatakot because this is a legal order. Hindi naman po illegal ang ginagawa namin. Ito naman ginagawa namin sa mga taong fugitive of the law, ‘yan po ang ineexpect ng mga tao sa amin (We are not afraid because this is a legal order. We are not doing anything illegal. We only did what the people are expecting of us to do with individuals who are considered fugitive of the law,” he noted.
Former president Rodrigo Duterte, who is a close friend of Quiboloy and who has been designated as the caretaker of the properties of the KOJC, said he is compelled to take legal and appropriate actions against the cops involved in the raid for alleged use of excessive force.
But Marbil denied that the police used excessive force, noting that it was the followers of Quiboloy who put up a barricade and trained water hoses against the cops to prevent them from entering the pastor’s properties.
“Hindi po marahas ang mga pulis, mas maraming nasaktan na mga pulis but we have to make it quiet. Talagang ganoon ‘yun ‘pag nagpapaimplement ng batas. Maximum tolerance natin (The police were not violent, in fact, there were more cops who got hurt but we have to make it quiet. That’s the way it is when we implement the law. We should implement maximum tolerance),” he said.
“’Yung binabasa ng mga tao ‘yung mga pulis, that’s disrespect and we can file sa mga taong ayaw kaming papasukin kaya lang hindi natin ginawa ‘yon (When they fired water hoses against the cops to prevent us from entering, that’s disrespect and we can file a case against them but we did not do it),” he added.
But upon learning that Duterte, known for his penchant for the police and military during his administration, has already considered taking a legal action against the raiding teams, Marbil said he ordered the PNP’s legal team to look into the circumstances of the operation to determine whether or not they could also file a case against those who attempted to prevent them from entering the KOJC’s premises.
Meanwhile, the PNP’s search for Quiboloy will still continue.
“Tuluy-tuloy po ‘yan and we will not stop na hindi siya makuha. Trabaho ng pulis ‘yan (It will continue and we will not stop until he is not arrested. It’s the job of the police),” Marbil said.
Revamp
Over at Camp Crame, PNP spokesperson Police Col. Jean Fajardo said seven ranking police officers were affected by the latest reshuffle in the organization.
Marbil has approved the relief of the regional director of Davao Police Regional Office (PRO-11), Police Brig. Gen. Aligre L. Martinez; Directorate for Operations (PNP-DO) chief, Police Brig. Gen. Ronald Oliver Lee; and Police Col. Edwin Portento of the Intelligence Group (PNP-IG) through an order signed on Thursday, which took effect on Friday.
They were reassigned to the Police Holding and Accounting Unit (PHAU) of the PNP's Directorate for Personnel and Records Management (DPRM).
Martinez was replaced by Police Brig. Gen. Nicolas Torre III, who was the PNP Communications and Electronics Service chief, as the new Davao police chief while Lee was succeeded by Police Brig. Gen. Nicolas Salvador, who was the chief of the PNP's Directorate for Plans (DPL), as the new PNP-DO chief.
Police Brig. Gen. Lex Ephraim Gurat, from the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO), becomes the new DPL chief; while Police Brig. Gen. John Chua, from the Area Police Commander - Visayas, was assigned to the National Police Training Institute (NPTI) following the retirement of its director last June 8.
Fajardo confirmed that the relief of some senior officers was connected to the June 10 raid.
There were nine CIDG personnel, one from the Traffic Enforcement unit, and two from SAF who were also relieved from their posts due to the raid, Fajardo said, but no other details were no longer provided.
"They were administratively relieved to give way for an impatial investigation, to determine if there were lapses committed. Was there really a negligence of supervision? We will look into it, whether or not the service of warrant was correct and if we have violated Police Operational Procedures (POPs)," Fajardo explained.
"But the PNP stands on its position that we only implemented a warrant of arrest validly issued by the courts and our deployment is justified since we are anticipating certain situations such as act of resistance on the part of [Quiboloy's] supporters," she added.