Kingdom of Jesus Christ Pasto Apollo Quiboloy (File photo from the Official X account of Apollo Quiboloy)
DAVAO CITY 鈥� 鈥淗ow could I accept any bribe when I was not in Davao City (before 2022)?鈥� asked Lawyer Archie Albao, regional director of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) here, on the claim by the former member of the religious sect Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KOJC) that he used to accept bribe from the beleaguered Pastor Apollo Quiboloy who remained elusive.
Arlene Stone, who is now based in the US, said she was the one who personally handed out the envelope to the regional director before she had gone to the US.
Stone, a former KOJC pastoral member and one of the complainants in the case against Quiboloy, issued the statement after the NBI, headed by Albao, made another failed attempt to arrest the Pastor at the KOJC compound along the Airport Road here on August 9.
She demanded that Albao and all the police assigned in Davao City should all be removed from their posts because they were all protectors of Quiboloy and former President Rodrigo Duterte, Quiboloy鈥檚 close friend and ally.
READ: NBI exec under probe for allegedly taking bribes from Quiboloy鈥檚 KJC
The NBI鈥檚 attempt to arrest the Pastor came after Police Brig. General Nicolas Torre III, director of the Police Regional Office 11, said that the KOJC Compound, where Quiboloy could be hiding, had an intricate web of underground tunnels that connected it directly to the Davao International Airport.
Albao said it was not possible that he and Stone could have met as he was not in Davao City before he was appointed by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in October 2022 and that Stone had already fled to the US even before his assignment here.
Albao said he worked in different NBI offices in Pampanga, Bohol, Region 3, Region 8 and Region 2 before he was tasked to take over the NBI Southern Mindanao Regional Office here.
鈥淚 have nothing to worry about because it鈥檚 not true,鈥� said Albao on Stone鈥檚 claim.
Quiboloy is wanted for cases of child abuse, sexual abuse and human trafficking cases filed against him and five other KOJC officials in the Davao and Pasig City court by former KOJC members. He is also wanted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in the US for conspiracy to engage in sex trafficking by force, fraud and coercion, sex trafficking of children; sex trafficking by force, fraud and coercion; conspiracy; bulk cash smuggling.
NBI鈥檚 attempt on August 9 was the fourth attempt by authorities to arrest the fugitive Pastor, who continued to shun the law despite the P10 million reward for those who could give information that would lead to his arrest.