Police surround Quiboloy HQ in bid to serve warrant

Fugitive alleged sex offender and human trafficker pastor Apollo Quiboloy again eluded hundreds of policemen backed by riot squads who swooped down on his vast compound here yesterday to arrest him.

- EDITH REGALADO and DIANA LHYD SUELTO

One of Quiboloy’s followers reportedly died of heart attack during the police operation that began at 4 a.m. and was live streamed by a local TV network owned by the fugitive religious sect leader’s Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KOJC).

Quiboloy’s followers also claimed the police raid left 18 KOJC members injured.

The police operation caused heavy traffic along Diversion Road where Quiboloy’s 30-hectare compound is situated, as hundreds of his followers spilled over the premises, hampering the movement of policemen belonging to the Police Regional Office XI (PRO 11) of the Philippine National Police (PNP).

PRO11 director Brig. Gen. Nicolas Torre, who led the operation, appealed to Quiboloy to give himself up as “it’s just a matter of time” before he is located and arrested.

He declined to reveal the exact number of policemen involved in the raid, but a Facebook post by Quiboloy’s media outfit said there were 3,000 policemen involved in the raid.

Last June 10, members of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group and the elite Special Action Force of the PNP raided the same compound and four other properties of the KOJC but went away empty-handed.

During yesterday’s raid, officers brought equipment that could detect people behind cement walls. But by mid-afternoon, they found no sign of Quiboloy in the compound that includes a “cathedral,” the Jose Maria College, Sonshine Media Network Inc. office, a living area, a hangar and a taxiway leading to Davao International Airport.

In a statement, PRO 11 said it is mourning the death of 51-year-old Edwin Cabatbat who lost consciousness while manning one of the KOJC’s watchtowers in Buhangin District. He was pronounced dead on arrival at the Southern Philippines Medical Center.