LAWYER Israelito Torreon, the legal counsel for the Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KOJC), said on Monday afternoon that they will file a suit against the police for impounding the fire truck owned by its fast-food joint, Waxis.
Earlier that day, the Police Regional Office XI revealed in a press conference that KOJC members used the fire truck to block the highway during a prayer rally on Aug. 24.
However, Atty. Torreon countered, “That’s not true because the Waxis had no involvement in the incident. The fire truck was merely supplying water for their normal operations. There is no evidence directly linking the truck to the incident.”
“Even if, for argument’s sake, the claim were true, it is too late to seize the truck because days have passed since the alleged rally,” Torreon explained.
He added that “in flagrante delicto” requires that the crime has just been committed and that the police seizing the instrument of the crime must have personal knowledge that the instrument was used in the crime. “How can there be personal knowledge when it was a different police unit that carried out the arrest?” he said.
Torreon confirmed that the truck was seized by the police on Monday afternoon.
When asked about KOJC’s response, he said, “We will take the usual legal action. We will send a demand letter showing that the fire truck was not involved in the rally.”
“Furthermore, the rally was a prayer meeting, which was not illegal. Video footage of the event shows that it was the police who dispersed the rally and arrested the KOJC members,” he added.
“In addition, more than two days have passed since the rally, so there is no legal basis for the police to seize the fire truck. ‘In flagrante delicto’ seizure of crime instruments requires that the crime has just been committed and that the police who seized the instruments must have personal knowledge that they were used in the crime,” Torreon said.
Earlier, during Monday’s press briefing, Major Catherine Dela Rey, spokesperson for Police Regional Office XI, said, “If you remember, the fire truck was part of the evidence in the rally. We had already seized one fire truck, a crane, and a wing van, but we did not seize the remaining fire truck because it had no key.”
“We want to seize that fire truck as part of the evidence, as it was used to block the highway during the rally. It’s like an embargo,” she added.
In response, Atty. Torreon said, “How can the requirement that the ‘crime has just been committed’ be met when the incident occurred last Saturday and the seizure happened only late this afternoon? Moreover, the police personnel who dispersed the rally are not the same ones who seized the truck today. The laws seem to be disregarded these days.”
On Aug. 24, the police also impounded two crane trucks owned by Apollo Quiboloy’s Kingdom of Jesus Christ, which were used as barricades by members protesting the police operations searching for Quiboloy.
Twenty-nine KOJC members were arrested at the barricade but were released on bail last week.
Photo: Bing Gonzales
