2 more Quiboloy church associates surrender
CAGAYAN DE ORO, Philippines – Two more close associates of embattled doomsday preacher Apollo Quiboloy surrendered to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) in Davao City on Thursday morning, April 4.
The two – Ingrid Canada and Jackielyn Roy – surrendered a day after authorities arrested one of Quiboloy’s close aides in Barangay Tamayong, Davao City, while two others turned themselves in in connection with a child abuse case.
They are expected to be released by authorities just like their three colleagues – Cresente Canada and younger sister Paulene, and Sylvia Cemañes – who posted bail late Wednesday afternoon, April 3.
Authorities first arrested Cresente, a barangay chairman in Davao City, Barangay Tamayong around 2 pm on Wednesday, while Pauline and Cemañes turned themselves in. Three hours after Cresente’s arrest, all three were released on a P80,000 bail each.
Police Davao Region chief Brigadier General Alden Delvo said various law enforcement agencies were closely coordinating in pursuing Quiboloy, who is charged with child abuse and sexual abuse of a minor.
The three Canadas, all siblings, belong to one of the first families to convert to the KOJC, and are considered among the closest church associates of the pastor.
Cresente, Barangay Tamayong chairman, served as Quiboloy’s close-in security aide and driver. Ingrid is the KOJC church’s administrator, while their youngest sister Paulene is a former KOJC chief finance officer and a member of the preacher’s pastoral department.
Cemañes is a KOJC coordinator, while Roy is one of the KOJC’s lead choir singers who also serves as one of Quiboloy’s “pastorals.” In the KOJC, pastorals are women who are considered “privileged,” who do special tasks, including errands, for Quiboloy – acts that they are taught to see as service to God.
National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) regional director Archie Albao told Cignal TV’s One News in an interview that Quiboloy is considered a “fugitive from justice” after authorities failed to arrest him based on two court warrants at his known addresses.
Delvo said the police and NBI looked for the preacher at the KOJC’s Prayer Mountain in Barangay Tamayong, Barangay Caliclic in Davao’s Babak District, the Quiboloy-owned Jose Maria College, and Samal Island, but failed to arrest him.
One of Quiboloy’s lawyers, Trinidad Arafol II, received the arrest warrant on behalf of the controversial pastor, according to the police.
Albao said the KOJC members who met them were cooperative and allowed them to search the compounds, including the pastor’s offices.
None of the followers of Quiboloy could say where he was, and told authorities that he has been gone for several days already, Albao told One News.
In March, Judge Dante Baguio of the Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 12 in the Davao Region issued two arrest warrants for Quiboloy in connection with separate sexual abuse and child abuse cases. His associates were included in the child abuse case.
The cases were brought to court following a review by the Department of Justice (DOJ), which overturned the Davao City prosecutors’ June 29, 2020 resolution dismissing the complaint of a former KOJC worker. The Davao prosecutors had also rejected her motion for reconsideration.
The alleged victim subsequently submitted to the DOJ a petition for review of the resolution and her accusations of rape, qualified human trafficking, and child abuse. Her petition remained pending at the DOJ for four years.
In its March resolution, the DOJ noted that her allegations of abuse date back to 2011, with the alleged victim claiming to have been raped while still a minor in September 2014. She alleged enduring emotional and physical mistreatment, as well as forced labor without compensation, all purportedly in the name of religion. – Rappler.com
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