To his thousands of followers living on a remote island in war-torn southern Philippines, Mr Jey Rence Quilario is the reincarnation of “Santo Nino” – the baby Jesus.

But a Senate investigation this week revealed a trail of sexual violence, child brides, paedophilia and drug trafficking that leads back to this self-styled “saviour”.

“This is a harrowing story of rape, sexual violence, child abuse, forced marriage perpetrated on minors by a cult. This cult is armed and dangerous,” Senator Risa Hontiveros said last Monday.

“We are talking about over a thousand young people in the hands of a deceitful, cruel and abusive cult,” she said.

Mr Quilario, only 22 years old, is the leader of the quasi-religious group Socorro Bayanihan Services Inc (SBSI), which has roots in Socorro, an island town in Surigao del Norte province with a population of just over 25,000.

It currently has 3,500 members, including some 1,600 children whom Ms Hontiveros and child rights activists are now trying to save.

Ms Hontiveros, who chairs the Senate committee on women, children, family relations and gender equality, opened an investigation into Mr Quilario after at least eight children managed to escape his mountain enclave in Socorro and provided harrowing accounts of what they allegedly went through. Source