Senators on Tuesday, April 9 welcomed the Department of Environment and Natural Resources’ (DENR) decision to fully cancel its 2004 agreement with the Socorro Bayanihan Services Inc. (SBSI) that awarded them 353 hectares of land protected area in Surigao del Norte province. 

This, after Environment Secretary Maria Antonia Yulo-Loyzaga announced the cancellation of the Protected Area Community-Based Resource Management Agreement (PACBRMA) No. 74007 due to several violations committed by the SBSI.

“It is a good move by the DENR, so that cult members can be relocated that will eventually led to the disbandment the cult and save the minors from abuse,” said Sen. Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa.

Dela Rosa is chairman of the Senate Committee on Public Order and Dangerous Drugs which investigated the allegations of rape, violence against women and children, and child labor against the religious group led by Jey Rence Quilario, who is also known as “Senyor Agila,” and several of its core leaders.

The senator had described SBSI as a cult citing their strict reverence to a single personality and his belief in his alleged healing powers which made members of SBSI believe and follow questionable deeds and orders.

Dela Rosa earlier said he believes that the key to dismantling the Socorro cult lies with the DENR.

Sen. Risa Hontiveros, who heads the Senate Committee on Women and Children, Family Relations and Gender Equality, also welcomed the agency’s move and urged the DENR to immediately work for the smooth reintegration and rehabilitation of the SBSI members in their community.

“Dapat mag tulong-tulong ang ating mga ahensiya, kasama ang lokal na pamahalaan ng Socorro at Surigao del Norte, para mapangalagaan ang kapakanan ng mga mamamayan ng Kapihan (Our agencies must help other offices, together with the local government of Socorro and Surigao del Norte, to safeguard the welfare of the citizens of Kapihan),” Hontiveros said.

“Mga biktima din sila ng kahirapan na napilitang kumapit sa mga pangako’t panloloko ni Senior Agila (They are also victims of poverty and were forced to cling to Senyor Agila’s promises and fraud),” she pointed out.

As what she reiterated during the Senate hearings, Hontiveros said she hopes that the government must unite to ensure that every member of the SBSI can live their lives with dignity.

At the same time, she said she hopes that the members of the SBSI would cooperate with the government throughout the process of relocation.

“Nais ko ring ipanawagan sa mga taga-Kapihan na mag-cooperate sa awtoridad sa prosesong ito (I also want to call on the people of Kapihan to cooperate with the authorities in this process). We only wish for them to live in safety, freedom, and genuine peace,” she stressed.