The founder of Kapa Community Ministry International, Inc., Joel Apolinario, told a large number of his followers here that he would soon meet with President Duterte, amid the anxiety expressed by his followers for the government's decision to close their offices.
Around 500,000 Kapa members gathered here on Thursday for a prayer meeting to urge the President to reconsider his order to close what he called an investment scam.
Organizers said the crowd was still expected to reach its peak on Thursday afternoon, when the heat starts to drop.
Around 11:30 a.m., Apolinario told his followers at the Acharon Sports Complex that President Duterte would meet him in the city of Davao.
The president planned to arrive here on Thursday afternoon to grant land ownership certificates at the Lagao gym.
René Catubigan, a professor at Kapa, told the researcher that the meeting could have been facilitated by Senator-elect Christopher Lawrence "Bong" Go, the former assistant to the president.
Apolinario and Go had common friends who could have arranged the meeting with the president, Catubigan said.
During the elections, Apolinario supported the senatorial candidacy of Go and Ronald "Bato" dela Rosa, another assistant of confidence of the President, according to Catubigan.
In a telephone patch, Apolinario urged Kapa members to continue appealing to Mr. Duterte to withdraw the order he previously issued to interested government agencies to close the organization that claims to have more than five million members inside and outside the country. .
"We have not committed any violations, everything we are doing is under the constitution," said Apolinario, who quoted the Bible and added that the group "can overcome its difficult situation."
"If God is with us, who can be against us," he said.
President Duterte, in a recent interview with Pastor Apollo Quiboloy, ordered the closure of the Kapa Ministry for allegations that the group was involved in a pyramid scheme and violated securities laws.
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