Quiboloy's helicopter in Malungon: the "appointed son of God" is "Datu Tud Labun"

Source: MindaNews

DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 10 May 2024) - Pastor Apollo Quiboloy's black helicopter flew to Malungon, Sarangani on Saturday, May 4 and from there to his Prayer Mountain in Tamayong here, before heading back to the Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KOJC) compound beside the Davao International Airport.

Whether or not the fugitive was on board his Bell 429 GlobalRanger chopper, MindaNews could not ascertain. But there is a place in Malungon, specifically in Sitio Kitbog, Barangay Malalag Cogon, that is special to Quiboloy. It was in this sitio of Blaans, in the mid-1970s, where Quiboloy said he realized that "the Father has called me."

Quiboloy's helicopter, RPC8488, took off from the Apollo Air hangar at the KOJC compound here at 10:18 a.m. on May 4 and landed at 10:47 a.m. in Malungon, according to Flightrader24 app. The helicopter may have picked up a passenger as it took off from there also at 10:47 a.m. and landed at 11:27 a.m. at the Prayer Mountain in Tamayong, this city; took off again at 12:14 p.m. and landed at 12:25 p.m. at the KOJC compound.

Quiboloy first visited Kitbog in 1974, according to a "Kingdom Chronicles" video but according to an article posted on the KOJC website, it was in 1975 when he first visited the Blaans, the Indigenous Peoples (Lumads) there.

He returned to the village 43 years later and on May 29, 2023 was proclaimed by the Blaan community as "Datu Tud Labun" ("access to heaven" or "mediator between heaven and earth").

The self-proclaimed "appointed son of God" refers to that remote village as the "mountain of decision," the place "where the ministry of the appointed son of God began."

In the 1970s, he said, it took him four hours to reach the sitio on foot or on horseback. He reached the sitio using his black helicopter on May 29, 2023, when he was conferred the title "Datu Tud Labun."

Ancestral domain

It was also there, according to the KOJC website article, where the Blaans "presented Pastor Apollo with the stewardship of their ancestral domain."

The article did not say how many hectares of ancestral domain were "presented" to Quiboloy for "stewardship."

Located 540 feet above sea level (164 meters), Barangay Malalag Cogon has a population of 4,875 as of the 2020 national census.

According to the "Kingdom Chronicles" video, Quiboloy has a house in the village.

He vowed to transform it into a "pilgrimage destination," likely as the Prayer Mountain and Glory Mountain in Tamayong are.

"We will make a city out of Sitio Kitbog," Quiboloy promised.

Land grabbing

On April 30, 2022, a year before he became "Datu Tud Labun" of the Blaans, Quiboloy was conferred the honorary title "Datu Pamulingan" by the Mindanao Indigenous Peoples Conference for Peace and Development for his "love and service" to the Lumads, in ceremonies held in Tamayong.

"This title is bestowed upon someone with a discerning spirit and a divine gift from God," said the MIPCPD, which was organized in 2003. Among the MIPCPD's first acts that year was to push for the creation of IP desks in all the units of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, "to promote peace, unity, security, and other development initiatives in the IP communities."

"Datu Pamulingan," however, had earlier been accused of land grabbing, an allegation he denied.

Several Bagobo families were reported to have been displaced from their ancestral domains when Quiboloy built his "mountains" and planted pine trees. He denied grabbing lands from the Lumads, dismissing the allegations as baseless.

Datu killed

On April 29, 2008, armed men indiscriminately fired at the hilltop house of Bagobo-Giangan Datu Dominador Diarog in Sitio Kahusayan in neighboring Barangay Manuel Guianga shortly before midnight, killing him and injuring his wife and two young children.

Diarog had stood his ground to keep what he claimed to be the only remaining part of their ancestral domain - a two-hectare land. According to his son, Diolito during a press conference in downtown Davao City on May 9, 2008, Quiboloy, represented by Barangay Captain Gregorio Canada, allegedly wanted to buy the land for 50,000 pesos. Twice the Datu was approached, twice he said no.

In radio interviews, Canada, a KOJC member and long-time personal aide of Quiboloy who was elected barangay captain in 2007, 2010 and 2013 through Quiboloy's support, denied he made the offer.

Whoever made the offer failed to get the Datu's consent. A series of harassments followed, with four attempts to burn Diarog's farmhouse between March 1 and April 20. The last one succeeded.

But more than the burning, the Datu's nephews, Danny and Junaz, said in the May 9 press conference that their family was left with no other choice but to sell their two-hectare land for P100,000 to Canada. Canada, they said, paid them cash. Worse, they said, they were offered P20,000 to kill the Datu, their uncle. Canada denied the allegation.

Alarming

In a statement, the PASAKA Confederation of Lumads said the killing of Diarog was "an alarming incident that needs urgent and in-depth investigation" especially because state forces were allegedly involved in the strafing attack.

PASAKA quoted residents as saying soldiers of Task Force Davao under the 73rd Infantry Battalion were "seen operating in the area and it has been widely known that they have close links with Quiboloy's private army." It said soldiers from the 73rd IB are "not only silent spectators but they are direct backers and protectors of the congregation of Pastor Apollo Quiboloy."

The chief of the Army's 73rd IB then, Lt. Col. Alexander Ambal, denied the allegations. Ambal said Diarog may have been killed by the New People's Army (NPA), a claim dismissed by the NPA in Southern Mindanao. "The NPA strongly condemns this hideous crime as a despicable attack on Indigenous Peoples who resist all attempts to occupy and grab their diminishing ancestral lands," the statement signed by Ricardo Firmeza, spokesperson of the Magtanggol Roque Command, said.

"Totally false and baseless"

In a statement, Quiboloy said they "do not wish to dignify the initial reports linking our congregation to the unfortunate incident that happened in a nearby barangay adjacent to the covenant mountain and prayer center in Tamayong," claiming these are "totally false and baseless, if not ridiculous."

Quiboloy said they would "trust only the police and the military authorities in investigating the incident and coming up with their corresponding findings on the same."

"Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, the 'Father of Davao City' who has direct control over the political jurisdiction of the city, has spoken, dismissing the rumors as untrue," Quiboloy said.

"I will still be your friend until kingdom come"

Quiboloy was referring to Duterte's statement on his Sunday television program, "Gikan sa Masa, Para sa Masa," that he has known Quiboloy "for the longest time," even before he was mayor, saw him rise from pastor of a kapilya (chapel) to his flock now, seen his property outside the country but more than that, he said, Quiboloy is "a gentle person."

Duterte, mayor of Davao City for 22 years before he was elected President from 2016 to 2022, has repeatedly defended Quiboloy, his friend and spiritual adviser.

"Dili ko mutuo nga si pastor who has by this time billions" (I cannot believe that the Pastor who has by this time billions of pesos), would sacrifice his honor for a "measly two hectares," the mayor said.

Duterte also warned against being misconstrued. If there is evidence against the Pastor, he said, addressing Quiboloy, "You do not cease to be my friend. I will still be your friend until kingdom come... but you answer for this."

Quiboloy in 2024 is the subject of three warrants of arrest in the Philippines: from the Senate, a court in Davao City, and a court in Pasig for various crimes, including alleged human trafficking, child abuse, sexual abuse.

The National Bureau of Investigation and the Philippine National Police have yet to find him.

Quiboloy has been on the US Federal Bureau of Investigation's "wanted" list since February 2022 for alleged conspiracy to engage in sex trafficking by force, fraud, coercion; sex trafficking of children, conspiracy and cash smuggling.

Canada and Diarog

Gregorio Canada and Diolito Diarog would continue to figure in Quiboloy's life years later, under different circumstances.

Canada and family left the KOJC and the country in September 2019. In February 2020, his sister Ingrid accused him as the alleged mastermind behind moves to destroy the reputation of Quiboloy, the filing of rape, child abuse and human trafficking cases against the pastor.

Ingrid was among five co-accused of Quiboloy who were ordered arrested last month by Judge Dante Baguio of the Regional Trial Court Branch 12 here for violation of Section 10(a), or other acts of child abuse under Republic Act 7610, or the "Special Protection of Children Against Abuse, Exploitation and Discrimination Act." All five co-accused were freed after posting bail of P80,000 each.

Diarog is now a poster boy of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC), claiming they were under the influence of the NPA when they fought Quiboloy. Diarog attended a "healing and reconciliation" ceremony with Quiboloy on June 6, 2022 at the latter's Glory Mountain. NTF-ELCAC spokesperson Lorraine Badoy described the ceremony as "historic."

During the ceremony, Diarog said he and his people finally set foot again on the land from where they were displaced 22 years earlier.

"Wanted" by the FBI since February 2022, Quiboloy was embraced as "Datu" by MIPCPD in April 2022 and by the Blaans in Malungon, Sarangani in May 2023.

After the helicopter's May 4 trip to Malungon and Prayer Mountain, the helicopter's next trip was shortly before noon on May 7, circling over Glory Mountain and Prayer Mountain in Tamayong and from there landed in Tigatto/Mandug area and returned to the KOJC compound here. (Carolyn O. Arguillas / MindaNews)