There is no clear indication that some Philippine Army (PA) reservists are involved in an alleged private army called the “Angels of Death” supposedly being commanded by detained Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KOJC) leader Apollo Quiboloy.
Col. Louie Dema-ala, PA spokesperson, stressed this on Wednesday, Sept. 18, as he assured the public that the Army is willing to help the Philippine National Police (PNP) in investigating the existence of such private armed group.
“As of now, we have not received official reports on the involvement of army reservists as alleged militia. We are open to any request from the PNP for any assistance they need in the conduct of their investigation,” Dema-ala said.
This, as reports surfaced saying that some members of the KOJC are allegedly part of the Army reserve force.
Dema-ala confirmed that around 540 members of the KOJC are part of the Army's 2nd Reservist Signal Battalion, composed of two officer reservists and 538 enlisted reservists.
He said they are deployed in the National Capital Region (NCR), Visayas and Mindanao. He noted that around 150 to 200 reservists are based in Davao.
But Dema-ala clarified that reservists are civilian volunteers who are only officially called reservists “when they are mobilized to perform a mission as mandated by Congress or competent authority in accordance to the law.”
“So if not mobilized, they are just civilians/constituents/members of congregation,” he explained.
According to the PNP, the members of the so-called Angels of Death were being used by Quiboloy to threaten some of his alleged minor sexual abuse victims.
The camp of Quiboloy had denied the PNP’s allegations.