Imee backs Senate probe into Quiboloy arrest bid

Senator Imee Marcos has expressed her support for a Senate investigation into the “unnecessary and excessive” use of force by the Philippine National Police in its hunt for Apollo Quiboloy at the Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KoJC) compound in Davao City last Monday.

According to Marcos, she was in Davao then and witnessed what she described as a “war zone-like” operation by the PNP to serve arrest warrants on Quiboloy, the KoJC leader, at the compound.

“I was in Davao at the time; it was like a war zone. The events were truly shocking. I couldn’t understand why Davao looked like it was in a war,” she said in an ambush interview on Tuesday.

Earlier in the day, Senator Robin Padilla, a known ally of Quiboloy, filed a resolution urging the Senate Committee on Public Order and Dangerous Drugs to look into whether the PNP violated a policy during the operation.

In filing Senate Resolution 1051, Padilla directed the committee to investigate “in aid of legislation” whether there was “unnecessary and excessive force” in the operation.

“There is a need for the PNP to promote and protect human rights because these very acts are vital to the maintenance of public order, the guarantee of public safety, and respect for the rule of law,” he said in his resolution.

“Records bear several instances in the past when the PNP was called out for its use of excessive force in the service of its warrants,” he added.

Citing the PNP’s guidebook on Human Rights-Based Policing policy, Padilla said “the first level of its human rights obligations is to respect human rights by refraining from interfering with the enjoyment of people’s rights.”

“The Revised PNP Operational Procedures dictates that, in the lawful performance of their duty, only necessary and reasonable force should be used to accomplish the task of enforcing the law and maintaining peace and order,” he said.

Last week, over 100 policemen from the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, Special Action Force, and other PNP units conducted operations at KoJC compounds, including the one in Buhangin, Davao City.

Former president Rodrigo Duterte, who is the administrator or “caretaker” of the KoJC’s assets following the absence of Quiboloy, condemned what he called the “unnecessary and excessive use of force” by the PNP in Davao City.