the founder of kapa, joel apolinario, formerly worked as a dj and technician at a radio station in bislig, surigao del sur, for ten years. in the same city, he started an investment firm for that provided funding to poor people. according to members of kapa, apolinario is a native from hinatuan, surigao del sur, where he lived as a fisherman and a construction worker in his early life. since then, people started to send donations to apolinario. when numerous people began donating, apolinario resigned from his position at a radio station and rented a small space at a feeds store, where he resumed his business. on september 2016, he obtained a business permit from the local government of bislig to establish a company named "kapa-co convenience store and general merchandise". he renamed the establishment to "kapa-community ministry international inc." in march 2017. in february 2017, the local government discovered that the establishment promised 30% interest per month to those who received "blessings" from donations. apolinario and his family then moved to the city of general santos, leaving their house to be temporarily occupied by a friend. some kapa members claimed that because of the blessings, their businesses flourished. conversely, a friend of apolinario's claimed that he never received a full refund of his donation after apolinario moved to general santos; he was one of the first people to file charges against apolinario for fraud. kapa was reported to have 10,000 members in the province of davao del norte alone.