A POSSIBLE bloodbath inside the Bible School of the sprawling Kingdom of Jesus Christ compound in Davao City was averted Sunday evening with the arrest of Pastor Apollo Quiboloy and his four co-accused as some 1,000 heavily-armed police commandos were already set to storm the facility where the self-proclaimed “Son of God” hid for weeks, Philippine National Police chief General Rommel Francisco Marbil said.

Police Regional Office 11 director Brigadier Gen. Nicolas Torre III told newsmen at Camp Crame that 500 armed commandos from the PNP Special Action Force and 500 troopers from the PRO11 Regional Mobile Force Battalion and the Special Weapons and Tactics were just waiting for the go-signal to to storm the building until feelers were sent by Quiboloy’s camp that they will surrender.

“I just told Brig. Gen. Torre to make sure na kung meron mang mamamatay, basta wala lang bata, walang innocent persons as we always observe human rights,” said Gen. Marbil.

The Sunday raid was planned amid intelligence reports that Quiboloy’s armed supporters were preparing to fight it out with the police.

Interior and Local Government Secretary Benjamin Abalos Jr. maintained that Quiboloy et al were arrested by the police.

“Yung word na pagsuko, i-clarify ko lang na ilang araw na pinagpaguran ng kapulisan, nasakote na, huli na sila. For me, it makes no difference kung sumuko ka man kasi napaligiran ka na on the same compound. It will only make a difference kung nasa ibang lugar ka ng Mindanao o sa Visayas nung sumuko ka,” Abalos said.

Brig. Gen. Torre said that the five accused only surrendered for formality sake.

“At the end of the day, whether he likes it or not, the end result will be the same. He just chose the path na mas magaan para sa kanya. Gusto din naman nating wala nang mas masaktan pa,” the PRO11 director said.

According to the official, they extended the 1 p.m. assault to give way to the request of their lawyers that they will voluntarily come out in the open.

“Yung mga conditions naman nila, tingin naman namin noble at pinagbigyan namin to save blood, sweat and tears. Ang ending, pasasakayin sa isang government plane papuntang Manila. Kung hindi ginawa, they have really no option whatsoever.

“Yung binigyan ng deadline to end the standoff, alam naman namin na nandun sila. We have pinpointed their location at na-realize nila siguro na it’s their end. For my part, talagang hinulog na siya ng ating Diyos, mahal tayo ng ating Panginoon at hindi na na-endanger pa ang lahat at na-resolve ang kaso in our favor. The bottomline here is there will be no other outcome but he will fall into government hands. No other option for him,” Brig. Gen. Torre said.

Gen. Marbil added that they were wary of deception from Quiboloy’s camp.

“It’s a deception time. Around 80 percent na when we started our intelligence, that’s on August 24, alam na namin na nandun sila.’Yung unang lugar na pinuntahan naming wala sila. Niloko kami at hindi kamin pinapayagang pumasok sa lugar. Tapos tatawag ang attorney na magsasabing sige, magus-surrender na. Tapos kaso naman kaliwa’t kanan,” the top cop said.

Gen. Marbil said they also feared that during the KOJC anniversary last September 1, there may be an attempt to spring Quiboloy out of the compound.

“Once na pumasok mga tao, baka hindi na makita, baka matakas. You know what happened on September 1, me pumasok doon and I told Nick to strictly monitor at baka maulusutan tayo kasi we’re so sure na nandun sila sa lugar na yon. So we put pressure on them and gave them 24-hours or we will assault,” the PNP chief said.

Gen. Marbil said they mobilized the 1,000 commandos amid a statement by one senator that he fears a possible violence since Quiboloy has armed followers.

“We made sure na yung entire KOJC compound will be locked down, walang papasok at lalabas na hindi namin alam. I also told Brig. Gen, Torre to study the filing of additional charges against some KOJC personalities who obviously committed an obstruction of justice when they maintained that Quiboloy was not hiding in their compound.

He also said their ground penetrating equipment and radar enabled them to pinpoint the exact location of Quiboloy et al.

“He was pinned down, wala nang pupuntahan,” he said.

“It took us 16 days but at the end of the day, make or break, we’re 80 percent na nadun sila from the time we monitored them last June 10 pa,” he added.

The PNP chief also said that one of Quiboloy’s conditions to surrender last Sunday was ‘ayaw niya makita si Nick Torre.’ When the KOJC leader was presented to the press, he was made to stand a few inches away from Torre.

‘KUWENTONG KUTSERO’

Abalos laughed off claims by the KOJC that Quiboloy and his co-accused came from the outside of the KOJC compound when they were arrested last Sunday.

“It’s what we call ‘kuwentong kutsero,’ yung claims na galing from the outside sila. Eh kung totoong nasa labas ka na eh di tumakas ka na. Why do you have to go inside pa? Nahuli sila sa loob yun ang malinaw. Kuwentong kutsero lang yang sinasabi nila at wag tayong maniwala diyan,” he said.

The DILG chief said some persons will surely be charged for obstruction of justice for harboring and concealing someone who is wanted by the law.

He cited Presidential Decree 29 which penalizes the act of harboring, concealing or facilitating the escape of a wanted person and giving false or fabricated information to mislead authorities tracking down a fugitive.

“I’m sure na maraming papasok dito sa kasong ito. Sabi nga ni PNP chief, maraming panlilinlang na ginawa kaya ngayon babaliktarin ko ang tanong? Wag na nating pag-usapan na galing sa labas, pumasok. Iisa lang ang tanong-kung ganun pala kabilis na isusurrender nila si Quiboloy, it means alam nila all the while kung nasan pinagtataguan niya,” he explained.

Sec. Abalos added that had the PNP’s operation in Davao City last Sunday became a failure, people will surely be calling for his as well as that of Gen. Marbil and Brig. Gen. Marbil’s resignation.

“Sinabi pa ng counsel niya, katakot-takot na demanda ang aabutin namin pero ngayong tapos na, let’s learn from the lessons of the past. Let it serve as a lesson for everyone na hindi tayo puwedeng mag-obstruct sa hustisya,” he said.

Abalos and a number of PNP officials led by Gen. Marbil were previously slapped with a number of cases including a petition for writ of amparo and habeas data, violation of domicile, interruption of religious worship, grave threats and malicious mischief.

Some of the cases were filed by former President Rodrigo R. Duterte, a very close friend of Quiboloy.