On Day 7 of the operation to arrest Apollo Quiboloy, police forces have so far inspected only 40 percent to 50 percent of the 30-hectare property of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KOJC) in Davao City.
Philippine National Police (PNP) spokesperson Col. Jean Fajardo said the delay in the conduct of inspection in all the 42 buildings and underground facilities could be attributed to the resistance of the KOJC members whom she said have been blocking the police from entering some of the buildings.
In one instance while the police were searching an underground facility, KOJC members allegedly used laser light and fire extinguishers to harass the lawmen.
“We have not inspected the more or less 42 buildings inside because we are being blocked, there was really resistance until now and this delays the inspection and the operation to search for the wanted persons,” said Fajardo in a radio interview.
“But our personnel there would not leave despite the resistance because we do not want any of the subjects of the arrest warrant to escape,” she added.
The 40 percent to 50 percent inspection does not include the underground facilities where Quiboloy is believed to be holed up.
Fajardo said the focus of the search is the underground facilities, especially that police forces have already discovered intricate bunkers inside the KOJC compound.
“We discovered plenty of bunkers with different entry and exit points. According to General Torre (Brig. Gen. Nicolas Torre III who is leading the search), there were times that their personnel were lost due to the maze-like underground facility,” said Fajardo.
60 cops injured
The strong resistance on the part of the KOJC members resulted in around 60 cops injured since more than 2,000 policemen trooped to the religious group’s compound.
Some of the cops were injured due to the large pieces of rocks allegedly thrown by the KOJC members while some policemen suffered injuries from the attack.
“But these are all hazards of being police and we have to commend our personnel there,” said Fajardo.
She said several KOJC members were also injured as a result of strong resistance.
Military augmentation
Fajardo also confirmed that they already sought assistance from the Armed Forces of the Philippines in the conduct of the search operation.
“Our personnel are already tired and a number of them were also injured. We need to ask for augmentation from other security agencies,” said Fajardo.
“We already deployed policemen from other units but we need replacements. The AFP is just there to provide augmentation,” she added.