Senate detains ‘cult’ leaders

MANILA, Philippines — Four ranking members of a religious group posing as a people’s organization were ordered detained at the Senate for not admitting their role in the alleged rape and forced marriages of children in a secluded but fortified mountainside village in Socorro, Surigao del Norte.

Jey Rence Quilario, dubbed as cult leader “Señor Aguila” and president of the Socorro Bayanihan Services Inc.,
 former Socorro mayor Mamerto Galanida, Karren Sanico and Janeth Ajoc were cited in contempt yesterday during the joint Senate public order and women and children committee inquiry.

Sen. Risa Hontiveros, who moved for the contempt order, said they refused to admit their role in the organization’s cult-like activities.

During the inquiry, the Senate panel learned that the forced marriage of children is a reference to the pairing of animals in the Biblical story of Noah’s Ark, with their mountainside community as the ark where they could be saved when the world ends.

A female minor, 15-year-old alias “Jane,” said child members are forced to have sex with Quilario before their arranged marriages to older men.

The children are told to have sex with the men so that they could go to heaven, she added.

Two 12-year-old male minors – aliases Renz and Coco – testified that they were subjected to forced labor and military training by Quilario’s private army called “Soldiers of God.”

These soldiers had to make a blood compact to become members of the religious army, former members told the Senate. The minors were excused from the hearing after they broke down upon recalling their ordeal.

Quilario denied the allegations that he raped minors and led a cult-like community in Socorro. “It pains me that I am being judged here. I am still young. I did not finish my education. I can never do those things,” Quilario said in Filipino.

Galanida – accused of grooming Quilario who was only 17 at the time to be the reincarnation of Jesus Christ – was taken to the clinic after he felt ill toward the end of the hearing.

According to municipal legal consultant Richard Dano, the community is divided into “clusters” which have a set of daily activities.

One cluster – “Fetus” – is composed of children who are brought to barracks and subjected to military training and hard labor. The community chanted prayers and worshipped Quilario for his miracles as a reincarnation of the child Jesus, Dano added.a

Meanwhile, 847 children dropped out of school in 2019 to join their families who went on a mass exodus to the mountainside community, Socorro Vice Mayor and former school superintendent Gemma Ocon said.

Several teachers also joined the exodus and quit their teaching posts, she added.

The religious organization has 3,560 members, including 1,587 children, in the community that is heavily guarded by Quilario’s private army.

Twelve police officers who were dismissed or went absent without leave are members of Quilario’s army. A photo of the señor with his army bearing arms was shown in the hearing.

Quilario denied he has a private army, and former members said they were holding wooden rifles instead of high caliber weapons.

Sen. Ronald dela Rosa, who presided over the hearing, said there are indications of a cult-like behavior based on the testimonies of the minors.

He said the Senate would hold the next hearing in Socorro to see for himself if there is a cult community.