Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, September 28) – The Senate’s next probe into a suspected cult linked to trafficking and child abuse will be held in the group’s home town in Surigao del Norte, Sen. Ronald Dela Rosa said Thursday.
“Sa Socorro na siguro. We will go there kasi mas marami silang bibiyahe dito. Alam mo naman hirap din ‘yan sa buhay, mamasahe pa papunta dito,” Dela Rosa told reporters in a chance interview after the eight-hour inquiry on Socorro Bayanihan Service, Inc. (SBSI).
Dela Rosa said the out-of-town hearing may be held during the congressional break next week, in consultation with Sen. Risa Hontiveros and other members of the Senate Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations and Gender Equality and the Committee on Public Order and Dangerous Drugs.
Hontiveros and the Department of Justice have rejected SBSI’s pleas to conduct the probe in Socorro. Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla said people in the town fear for their lives.
SBSI has been accused of trafficking, kidnapping, sexually abusing children, training children as soldiers, and practicing child marriages.
Meanwhile, the Senate held in contempt four of the group’s leaders, including its president Jey Rence Quilario, during the first inquiry for lying about the group’s activities under oath. They are detained in a Senate facility.
