‘Messiah’ figure accused of child abuse on heavily-guarded enclave off Philippines, with calls for action from government
Children are allegedly being sexually abused on a remote Filipino island at the hands of a doomsday cult headed by a leader who claims to be a reincarnation of Jesus.
Save the Children has urged the Filipino government to take immediate action to free the estimated 1,500 children allegedly held by Socorro Bayanihan Services within a heavily guarded enclave on one of the archipelago’s southern islands, close to an internationally renowned surfing spot.
The group was originally a civic organisation. But according to politicians it morphed into an exploitative, quasi-religious cult known as Omega de Salonera in 2017 – and used a powerful earthquake two years later to lure people into the mountains under the threat of eternal damnation.
There, the cult’s leaders were able to escape scrutiny and commit “monstrous” abuses while running a covert drugs operation protected by a private army, according to Filipino lawmakers.