Members of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ block the national highway in Buhangin, Davao City on August 25, 2024. Ryan Evangelista, ABS-CBN News

Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KOJC) chief legal counsel Atty. Israelito Torreon denied police statements that they detected a heartbeat in an alleged bunker inside the KOJC compound in Davao City.

In an ambush interview on Monday, Torreon said that as a long-time lawyer of the KOJC, he never knew that there is a bunker inside the property of the religious group headed by fugitive pastor Apollo Quiboloy.

Torreon also denied that police detected a heartbeat from the alleged bunker.

“Ako matagal na po akong abogado ng KOJC, ‘di ko alam na may bunker pala yan so I tried to convince them na that is not true of course they have their own version perhaps to legitimize their continued illegal stay in the premises of KOJC. Allegedly may heartbeat daw pero yung pag-open kasi eh tubo pala, yung pangalawa eh daga,” Torreon said.

Police earlier said they found indications that Quiboloy is hiding in a bunker inside the KOJC compound.

In an interview with Teleradyo, PNP Region XI spokesperson Catherine Dela Rey said, the PNP’s ground-penetrating radar was able to monitor the heartbeats in the underground bunker.

Courts in Davao City and in Pasig in April issued warrants of arrest for Quiboloy and others facing trafficking and abuse cases. Quiboloy, whom the government considers a fugitive, has been in hiding since.

His lawyers claim the accusations against him are recycled and were made by disgruntled former members of KOJC.

Quiboloy is also on the wanted list of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) “for his alleged participation in a labor trafficking scheme that brought church members to the United States via fraudulently obtained visas.”

The pastor has also “forced the members to solicit donations for a bogus charity… to finance church operations and the lavish lifestyles of its leaders,” according to the FBI.

In November 2021, Quiboloy was indicted by a federal grand jury in the United States District Court for the Central District of California and a federal warrant has since been issued for his arrest.