The Philippine National Police (PNP) is considering filing an obstruction of justice case against former president Rodrigo Duterte for not revealing the location of Kingdom of Jesus Christ Pastor Apollo Quiboloy despite saying he knows where he is, its top official said Monday.

In an interview with dwPM, PNP chief Gen. Rommel Francisco Marbil said they are gathering witnesses to file charges against Duterte.

Police tried to serve the arrest warrant from two courts on Quiboloy and five others for alleged sexual and child abuse in Davao last but they were blocked by Quiboloy's supporters.

“We are getting witnesses to file a case against these people. We cannot hide fugitives. That is against the law,” Marbil said.

“We're looking at our legal service to get witnesses to file cases against people. You cannot say something that will disrupt the search efforts of the police. Remember we are spending millions of manpower and pesos just to locate these people. It is the obligation of each citizen to help our government. We are not divided,” he added.

Marbil urged the pastor to face the court to prove his innocence.

“Like I said, he is a fugitive of the law. Whoever is hiding him, since we are a government, if he is innocent, then he should go to court, right? But his case has no bail. It is our job to arrest him and we will file cases against those who are said to be hiding him,” Marbil said.

In June, police raided the properties of Quiboloy in Davao but failed to serve the arrest warrant against him. Jaspearl Tan/DMS