Davao City (CNN Philippines) – The Special Inter-Agency Investigation Task Group (SIITG) Durian Candy has cleared evangelist Pastor Apollo C. Quiboloy of any involvement in the food poisoning of almost 2,000 people in Caraga Region last week.
Group head Senior Supt. Aaron Aquino said that the investigation showed that Pastor Quiboloy could not be charged for the actions of the members of his congregation.
Aquino said they had no evidence linking Quiboloy to the actions of seven followers who now face various charges in relation to the massive durian candy poisoning.
Aquino said, however, that the group would still need an official statement from Quiboloy that would be included in their report.
Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte also vouched for Quiboloy, calling the evangelist a good man who would not endanger the lives of other people.
Duterte said he was planning to go to Surigao del Sur once Quiboloy had returned from abroad to make amends to the almost 2,000 victims of food poisoning.
Meanwhile, Aquino said that the investigation would now focus on the manufacturer of the candy, Wendy’s Durian Candy.
The group is also looking at another candy manufacturer, Blesses Durian, which is involved in another food poisoning incident in other areas.
Aquino said that the manufacturer of Blesses Durian is a sibling of the manufacturer of Wendy’s Durian. Though their factories are separate and far from each other, it was learned though that both use the same raw materials.
With this development, he said, there was a high possibility that there was contamination of the products during manufacturing.
He said, however, that the group was still waiting for the result of the laboratory tests on the samples to really determine the cause of the poisoning.
