A SURIGAO del Norte court has ordered the arrest of Jey Rence Quilario, also known as Senior Agila, and several other leaders and members of the Socorro Bayanihan Services Inc. (SBSI), which was tagged as “cult,” Senator Ronald dela Rosa confirmed Tuesday, November 7, 2023.
In the resumption of the inquiry into the alleged illegal activities of the SBSI, Dela Rosa, chairman of the Senate Committee on Public Order and Dangerous Drugs, said the warrant of arrest against Quilario and 12 other leaders and members of the SBSI were issued by the Dapa Surigao del Norte Regional Trial Court over charges of qualified trafficking in persons, facilitation of child marriage, solemnization of child marriage, and child abuse.
He then ordered the Senate sergeant-at-arms to coordinate with the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the National Bureau of Investigation for the turnover of Quilario, Mamerto Galanida, Karren Sanico and Janeth Ajoc, who are currently under the custody of the Senate, after they were cited in contempt for allegedly repeatedly lying during the Senate proceedings in September.
Also named as respondents in the case, which was filed by the Department of Justice, were Wenefredo Buntad, Giovanni Leogin Lasala, Ibrahim Adlao, Jovelito Atchecoso, Sergio Cubillan, Daryl Buntad, Jonry Elandag, Yure Gary Portillo and Florencio Quiban. They were all at large.
Earlier in the hearing, Senator Risa Hontiveros, who first brought up the issue of Sitio Kapihan cult, said they further found out that more or less 200 children aged 0 to 4 have died and were buried in Sitio Kapihan.
She said some of them died after the SBSI leadership did not allow them to be brought to hospital for treatment.
Randolf Balbarino said his wife gave birth in December 2020 and they were advised by the midwife to bring the baby to the hospital. His child died two days later as the SBSI forbade them to bring their child to the hospital.
He said Quilario also performed an internal examination (IE) on his wife to know if she is already about to give birth.
“For the record, sinabi ng asawa mo na si Senior Agila, nag-conduct ng IE sa kanya? Meaning, ‘yung kamay ni Senior Agila, ipinasok doon sa ari ng asawa mo para malaman kung ano ang distance ng ulo ng bata or part of the body of the infant sa loob, para malaman ang distance gano’n. ‘Yan ang purpose ng IE 'di ba? Siya ang mismong gumawa?” Dela Rosa asked.
(For the record, your wife said that Senior Agila conducted an IE with her? Meaning, Senior Agila's hand was inserted into your wife's private organ to determine the distance of the child's head or part of the body of the infant inside. That's the purpose of IE, right? He did it himself?)
To his defense, Quilario denied the allegations and said he was not yet the SBSI president in 2020. (TPM/VoxPop Philippines)