Charged New religious movements Messianic / communal movement Socorro, Surigao del Norte, Philippines · 2023

Philippines: 'Senior Agila' cult leader charged with trafficking and forced child marriage of followers' children

Record class

Core record

Evidence status

Charged

Authority role

self-proclaimed reincarnation of the Santo Nino (child Jesus); founder-leader of Socorro Bayanihan Services Inc.

Organization

Socorro Bayanihan Services Inc. (SBSI)

Spiritual nexus

Quilario was venerated by parents and child members as the reincarnated Santo Nino; that claimed divine identity is what the DOJ's charging theory and victim testimony describe as the operative mechanism inducing parents to hand over their children and children to submit to forced marriage and sex.

Prophecy or divine command
Religious marriage or family control

Evidence structure

Proceedings

2023-11-06 · informations filed; non-bailable; trial ongoing

Regional Trial Court, Branch 31, Dapa, Surigao del Norte, Philippines. The Department of Justice filed nine counts of qualified trafficking in persons, eight counts of child abuse, and four counts of facilitating/solemnizing child marriage against Jey Rence Quilario ('Senior Agila') and twelve co-respondents, over the forced marriage and sexual abuse of minors within the SBSI compound at Sitio Kapihan. Quilario was arrested inside the Senate building in November 2023 after being held in contempt for denying the allegations during Sen. Risa Hontiveros's inquiry. As of a February 2026 report, the cases remained under trial before the RTC and the accused remained detained on the non-bailable trafficking charges.

Documented coercion mechanisms

claimed divine/reincarnated status
forced marriage of children as young as 12 to adult members
confining minors until they agreed to sex, framed as required to 'go to heaven'

Primary record

Sources

national newspaper court reporting charging report 'Trafficking, child abuse, child marriage raps filed vs SBSI leader, 12 others', GMA News Online, 6 Nov. 2023.: Reports the DOJ's filing of qualified-trafficking, child-abuse, and child-marriage charges against Quilario and twelve co-respondents before the Dapa RTC, and Justice Secretary Remulla's description of how the children were moved and used.
national newspaper court reporting trial status report "'Cases vs Senior Agila still under trial'", Philstar, 1 Feb. 2026.: NBI update confirming the cases against Quilario and SBSI leaders remain under trial and the accused remain detained.
official hearing testimony senate testimony report 'Teen: Socorro cult compel marriage, sex with adults "to go to heaven"', Philippine Daily Inquirer, 2023.: Senate-hearing testimony describing the doctrinal pretext — that submitting to marriage and sex with adult members was required to 'go to heaven' — used to coerce minor members.

Related record

Related cases · New religious movements

← Explore all cases