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VOL. XXXVIII • NO. 191 • 3 SECTIONS 12 PAGES AUGUST 25, 2024
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BPSF ROLLS OUT P563M IN GOV’T SERVICES, AID TO 60,000 BATANGUEÑOS By Pot Chavez and Maricel V. Cruz
ON AUGUST 27, 2024
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22ND SERBISYO FAIR. Speaker
Martin Romualdez (third from left in black polo) is assisted by Finance Secretary Ralph Recto (second from left), Senator Ramon Revilla Jr. (second from right), Ryan Christian Recto (right) and Lucky Manzano (left) in distributing assistance packages from various government agencies during the 22nd Bagong Pilipinas Serbisyo Fair (BPSF) at the Aboitiz Pitch, Lima Park in Lipa City, Batangas. Ver Noveno
2,000 COPS TROOP TO KOJC, FAIL TO ARREST QUIBOLOY PNP TO DIG IN AT COMPOUND UNTIL FUGITIVE PASTOR FOUND
By Vince Lopez and Rex Espiritu
S
OME 2,000 policemen trooped to the Kingdom of Jesus Christ compound in Davao City early Saturday morning in a bid to arrest fugitive pastor Apollo Quiboloy.
Philippine National Police officers, however, failed to implement the non-bailable arrest warrant. A 50-year-old male KOJC member also suffered a heart attack during the operation and died. Despite failing to apprehend Quiboloy, Police Regional Office 11 Director Police Brigadier General Nicolas Torre III said they will not leave KOJC until the pastor is arrested. “(Quiboloy) is there -- they are hiding him. We will not leave until we get him or his companions,” Torre said. “This is an arrest warrant that we are implementing against a person who faces loathsome cases --
human trafficking, child abuse,” he added. Torre said police personnel have searched a third of the area as of 1 p.m. Saturday. Earlier, Torre told the Senate committee on dangerous drugs and public order that capturing Quiboloy would be difficult due to the extensive and complex layout of the KOJC property, which includes underground spaces and tunnels. The property features the partially completed “King Dome,” a large stadium, a hangar, and a taxiway leading to Davao’s Francisco Bangoy International Airport, along with 42 known structures. Nearby is Quiboloy’s school, Jose Maria College (JMC). Police on Saturday deployed motion detec-
tors for the search operation, and unlike during the June 10 attempt where Quiboloy’s followers resisted with water cannons, the KOJC allowed police entry without resistance. Quiboloy’s lawyer Israelite Torreon on Saturday afternoon appealed to the police to “stop their harassment” and leave the KOJC compound. “The warrant of arrest is not a license to do this continuous harassment against the accused. That’s our stand,” Torreon said. Quiboloy is facing a non-bailable qualified human trafficking charge before a Pasig court. He was also charged for violating Republic Act 7610 or the Special Protection of Children Against Abuse, Exploitation, and Discrimination Act. Former President Rodrigo Duterte, who is administrator of KOJC’s properties, has yet to comment on the raid. Senator Ronald dela Rosa arrived at the KOJC compound Saturday afternoon and called on the police to leave the compound once they are done with their search.
LONG ARM OF THE LAW. Police personnel raid anew the Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KOJC) compound in Davao City early Saturday morning in a bid to arrest fugitive pastor Apollo Quiboloy. Nova Mae Francas
THE country’s biggest service and convergence caravan on Saturday rolled out a total of P563 million worth of government services and financial aid to over 60,000 residents of Batangas. Speaker Martin Romualdez, the main proponent of the Bagong Pilipinas Serbisyo Fair and Finance Secretary Ralph Recto, a native of Batangas, led the caravan that will last until today (Sunday). “We cannot stress enough the need to put up service and help centers in every province in the Philippines. Government service directly to the people – this is the promise of President Marcos to our countrymen,” Romualdez said during the event attended by 143 House members, including former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, Senator Ramon Revilla Jr. and other government and local officials. This is the second time the BPSF went to the Calabarzon region following its first caravan in November 2023 in Sta. Cruz, Laguna. The BPSF in Batangas was the 22nd installment of the caravan, which aims to reach all 82 provinces nationwide. During the two-day festival of services, a total of P563 million worth of programs were brought to the entire province, P265 million of which were in the form of cash assistance programs. The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) conducted continuous payouts for 34,000 beneficiaries across the province of Batangas. Recto said the caravan aims to bring “not division but integration with a purpose to help… not conflict but comfort.” “All agencies are here, and any help, advice, assistance, and relief will be freely given regardless of your status in life. These agencies are ready to sympathize with you without discrimination. As a citizen, you have the right to enjoy such care,” Recto said. A total of 9,000 beneficiaries from Batangas also received rice and cash aid from three programs that target the vulnerable sectors of society that do not receive financial assistance from any established social amelioration program of the government. Romualdez spearheaded the distribution ceremonies for the Cash Assistance and Rice Distribution (CARD) program, the Integrated Scholarship and Incentives for Program (ISIP) for the Youth and the Start-Up, Investments, Business Opportunities and Livelihood (SIBOL) program. “As President Marcos said, no one should be left behind. So, we implement these programs to reach all our countrymen who need help. It’s not just the poor, but also our near-poor who are struggling with daily expenses,” Romualdez said.
‘NAPAKATANGA NAMIN’: PAOCC ADMITS LAPSES LED TO GUO’S ESCAPE By Charles Dantes, Maricel Cruz, and Joel Zurbano LAPSES and corruption within law enforcement agencies led to the escape of dismissed Bamban Mayor Alice Guo, Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) spokesperson Winston Casio said yesterday. “There are moving parts in an escape operation such as the one they
did. Forgive my language and forgive my frustration -- napakatanga naman naming lahat sa law enforcement -kami lahat -- at hindi namin siya nabantayan at nakita (We are all dumb in law enforcement – all of us – that we were not able to track her down while making her way out of the country),” Casio said in a press forum. “We don’t live in a fantasy world -we have to accept the fact that corruption is seeping into some agencies of government.”
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“Someone, somewhere dropped the ball. Someone, somewhere dribbled -- kept on dribbling the ball -so we really have to investigate. Any investigation should begin with law enforcement agencies. Investigate us all. Call us out,” Casio added. The PAOCC official admitted the commission received a tip that Guo was spotted in a private resort in the western tip of Luzon on July 14. “When we attempted to serve the warrant and the mission order against Alice
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Guo or Guo Hua Ping, our source inside that particular location informed us that she left in two speed boats together with some members of her party in the early hours of our operation,” he said. The next time Guo surfaced was in Denpasar in Indonesia on July 17 where she left for Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. From Kuala Lumpur, Guo proceeded to Singapore to meet up with her relatives before returning to Indonesia, where her sister, Sheila Guo, and
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associate Cassandra Li Ong, were apprehended on Aug. 21. Casio said Guo will likely evade China due to Beijing’s strict position on gambling-related crimes, and will instead attempt to leave for countries belonging to the so-called Golden Triangle -- Myanmar, Laos, and Thailand. Casio said the former mayor has ties to Cambodia as the Guo clan has established business and gambling interests in the country.
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