Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr defended police operations that sought to arrest a pastor with close ties to former leader Rodrigo Duterte’s family in the latest disagreement between the country’s two most powerful clans.

The police over the weekend deployed around 2,000 personnel to search a church compound in the southern city of Davao and arrest evangelical preacher Apollo Quiboloy, a religious adviser and friend to Duterte. The pastor is wanted for allegations of sexual abuse and human trafficking, which his followers deny.

“Is there a violation of human rights if there are many policemen? I don’t think so,” Marcos told reporters on Tuesday. “This is a 30ha compound. You certainly need a lot of people,” to secure the area, he said. 

The police remained in the compound for a fourth day on Tuesday and Quiboloy has yet to surface. But a regional trial court in Davao ordered the police to immediately stop any act that “threatens the life, liberty or security” of the pastor’s supporters or their properties.

The court also asked the police to remove all barricades that block access to the church compound where Quiboloy was believed to be hiding. Quiboloy is also on the US Federal Bureau of Investigation’s wanted list for alleged labour and sex trafficking.

Vice-President Sara Duterte last week criticised the government for “grave abuse of police power” in trying to arrest Quiboloy.

  - Bloomberg