A Facebook (FB) reel and TikTok video are claiming that Davao City was placed under lockdown, supposedly to prevent people from joining a rally of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KOJC) sect.
This is false. The Philippine National Police (PNP) and a Davao City local official have denied that there was such an order.
Uploaded on Aug. 25, the same day that the KOJC protest took place, the FB reel bore the superimposed text:
“BREAKING NEWS DAVAO CITY UPDATE. LOCKDOWN RIGHT NOW ANG ENTRY AT EXIT POINTS NG DAVAO CITY NORTHBOUND AT SOUTHBOUND (The entry and exit points of Davao City, northbound and southbound).”
A video on TikTok also echoed a similar claim, with its superimposed text saying:
“Lockdown ang Davao dahil nag people power. Happening now sa Davao City. August 25, 2024 (Davao is under lockdown because of people power. Happening now in Davao City. Aug. 25, 2024).”
In a statement that same day, the PNP denied that they have placed Davao City under lockdown:
“The PNP, especially [Police Regional Office] 11, has never implemented any lockdown along the National Highway or planned to do so. Instead, it was the members of the KOJC who intentionally blocked the National Highway in front of the KOJC compound.”
Davao City Councilor Luna Acosta also refuted the claim in an FB post:
“Hindi po totoo na naka lockdown ang Davao City. Passable papasok at labas ng checkpoints, traffic dahil mas strict lang pero nakakadaan. (It is not true that Davao City is under lockdown. Entry and exit along checkpoints are passable, it’s just traffic because of stricter regulations but you can pass).”
KOJC members have staged a protest along the Carlos P. Garcia Highway in Buhangin district, after the PNP conducted a search operation to arrest fugitive televangelist and the sect’s leader Apollo Quiboloy.
Protesters later blocked the road leading to the Davao International Airport, which prompted airport authorities to close its entry and exit points.
Quiboloy, a spiritual adviser of former president Rodrigo Duterte, has standing arrest warrants for cases of human trafficking and sexual abuse, as well as contempt orders from the House of Representatives and the Senate.
The self-styled “appointed son of god” is also facing a federal arrest warrant in California for charges of sex trafficking, fraud and coercion, conspiracy and bulk cash smuggling.
The videos merely showed clips of the KOJC protest taken by SMNI. The media outlet, which is affiliated with Quiboloy, was first to wrongly report that Davao City was under lockdown.
Uploaded by an FB user, the reel received 35,000 views and 176 interactions. Meanwhile, the video posted by TikTok user @jagitrends obtained over 364,000 views and 17,000 interactions.
