Protests Erupt in Philippines as Police Target Duterte’s Pastor
(Bloomberg) -- Violent protests broke out in the southern Philippine city of Davao on Sunday as police sought to arrest an evangelical preacher with ties to former leader Rodrigo Duterte’s family, deepening the powerful clan’s rift with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
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Six policemen were injured after clashing with hundreds of protesters wielding stones and knives while the authorities searched for televangelist Apollo Quiboloy at a religious compound where he was believed to be hiding, according to a police report. It’s the second time the police have attempted to arrest Quiboloy for allegations of abuse and human trafficking, which his followers deny.
A religious adviser and friend to former President Rodrigo Duterte, Quiboloy was not apprehended during the police operations that started Saturday. However, the incident risks inflaming a feud between Duterte and Marcos clans as they jockey for influence less than a year before midterm elections.
The presidential office said the law must be followed. “He is answerable to the law,” Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin told reporters on Monday. “The law must take its course. There’s a process.”
Quiboloy’s cases have been a major flashpoint for the two political clans who teamed up two years ago in an election that handed them a landslide victory.
Duterte’s daughter, Vice President Sara Duterte, on Sunday criticized the government for “grave abuse of police power” in trying to arrest Quiboloy. She asked members of the religious group to forgive her for having urged them to vote for Marcos during the 2022 elections.
Quiboloy is also on US Federal Bureau of Investigation’s wanted list for alleged labor and sex trafficking. The police action over the weekend stemmed from an intelligence report that Quiboloy’s followers from the Kingdom of Jesus Christ church are trying to whisk him off their compound, ABS-CBN News reported.
Hundreds of church members on Sunday also occupied a highway leading to the religious compound and disrupted traffic in the area near the Davao airport. Although flights were not canceled, Cebu Air warned of longer travel times and offered to rebook flights.
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