NABBED. Interior Secretary Benjamin Abalos Jr. (seated, center) and Philippine National Police Chief Gen. Rommel Marbil (right) present to the media Pauleen Canada (standing, center), one of the co-accused of Kingdom of Jesus Christ leader Pastor Apollo Quiboloy on human trafficking charges, in a press briefing in Camp Crame on Friday (July 12, 2024). Canada, who has a PHP1 million bounty for her arrest, was nabbed in Davao City on Thursday (July 11, 2024). (PNA photo by Lloyd Caliwan)
MANILA – A co-accused of Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KOJC) leader Pastor Apollo Quiboloy on human trafficking charges was arrested in Davao City.
In a report late Thursday, the Police Regional Office (PRO) 11 (Davao Region) said Pauleen Canada, also tagged as its top 6 most wanted person, was arrested in an intelligence-driven operation by various police units inside the Emily Homes Subdivision at about 2 p.m. Thursday.
Canada was arrested based on intelligence information received by the PRO-11.
The suspect has a standing arrest warrant issued by the Pasig City Regional Court Branch 159 on April 11 on human trafficking charges with no bail recommended.
Pauleen and four other individuals – Crisente and Ingrid Canada, Sylvia Cemañes, and Jackielyn Roy – have a bounty of PHP1 million each for their arrest.
Meanwhile, Quiboloy has a PHP10 million bounty for his arrest.
The suspect is under the custody of the Buhangin Police Station in Davao City for documentation and proper disposition.
On Friday, Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Benjamin Abalos Jr. and Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Gen. Rommel Francisco Marbil presented Canada to the media in a press briefing in Camp Crame.
Abalos said Canada was arrested after the PRO-11 received a call on Thursday morning from an anonymous informant who spotted her inside the Emily Homes Subdivision.
He said the arrest warrant against Canada would be returned to the Pasig court, which will issue a commitment order for her detention.
Abalos said the PNP would exhaust all the resources of the government to give justice to Quiboloy’s “victims.”
“Lumiliit na ang mga pinagtataguan ninyo, lumiliit na ang mga lugar na ito dahil hindi titigil ang buong pwersa ng gobyerno upang kayo ay dakipin. Kung talagang wala kayong kasalanan, sumuko na kayo. Ganun lang kasimple (Your hiding places are getting smaller. These will get smaller because the whole force of the government will not stop until you are arrested. If you did not do anything wrong, surrender. Plain and simple),” he said in his appeal to Quiboloy and his co-accused.
Marbil, meanwhile, said the recent massive replacement of police officers at the Davao City Police Office (DCPO) has nothing to do with Canada’s arrest.
“It’s more of the reward. That’s purely yung sa announcement ng ating SILG (Secretary of the Interior and Local Government), may reward. Yun, maraming tumawag and one of the tawag tumugma sa ginagawa nating surveillance (It’s purely because of the announcement of the SILG on the reward. We received many calls and one of those calls confirmed information from our surveillance),” he said.
In the same briefing, PRO-11 Director, Brig. Gen. Nicolas Torre III, said the place of Canada’s arrest was less than 2 km. away from the regional police headquarters.
Torre earlier implemented a massive shake-up in the DCPO, designating three heads in one day and replacing 19 police station commanders “to strengthen the implementation of the police programs in the city.”
He also cited “severe discrepancies” in crime statistics and inadequate police response times in Davao City for the change of officers.
Torre said he believes that the relieved police officials have nothing to do with the delay in the arrest of Quiboloy and his co-accused.
“I am very sure na walang ganoon sa hanay ng kapulisyahan (that there is no such thing among the police ranks),” he said when asked about the possibility that the local police may have been influenced by Quiboloy and his group. (PNA)
