CEBU CITY -- Police arrested last Friday a cult leader in Lapu-Lapu City and his two female assistants, in connection with a case of human trafficking filed against the man last year.
The cult leader, who is elderly, allegedly convinced the girls to have sex with him so they would be healed.
He was detained, but was brought to the hospital Saturday because he felt weak.
PO3 Jose Dumaguit of the Police Regional Office (PRO)-Central Visayas Intelligence Division went to the cult leader's house at 8:50 p.m. last Friday and arrested him, along with two assistants.
Andrey Sawchenko, International Justice Mission (IJM) field director, said the arrest resulted from a criminal complaint against the cult leader last year.
He said the man was arrested in May 2009 and charged with qualified trafficking and three counts of child abuse.
The case was sent to Manila for review, but the justice department agreed there was basis to proceed with the case. So the police implemented the warrant and arrested him.
Trafficking in persons is committed when anyone "recruits, transports, transfers... a person by any means, including those done under the pretext of domestic or overseas employment or training or apprenticeship, for the purpose of prostitution, pornography, sexual exploitation, forced labor, slavery, involuntary servitude or debt bondage."
(The law against trafficking requires that the names of trafficked persons and the accused should not be revealed to the public.)
Sawchenko, quoting witnesses, said the girls that fell into the cult leader's clutches were recruited from other places and brought to Lapu-Lapu City.
There, the girls, aged 10 to 16 years old, were allegedly made to have sex with the cult leader and his colleagues.
The elements of human trafficking include recruiting, harboring and holding victims in a place, as well as threats and intimidation, Sawchenko explained.
After his arrest last year, the cult leader was eventually released because of questions raised over the legality of the proceedings.
The complaint was still filed, though, and underwent regular preliminary investigation.
Investigators found probable cause and went to court, then Regional Trial Court Judge Gilbert Moises issued an arrest warrant in October 2009 for the cult leader.
But the arrest warrant was suspended the following month, because the cult leader filed a petition for review with the Department of Justice (DOJ).
After a year, the DOJ denied the petition and Regional Trial Court Judge Gabriel Ingles lifted the suspension of the warrant this month. (OCPCEBU CITY -- Police arrested last Friday a cult leader in Lapu-Lapu City and his two female assistants, in connection with a case of human trafficking filed against the man last year.
The cult leader, who is elderly, allegedly convinced the girls to have sex with him so they would be healed.
He was detained, but was brought to the hospital Saturday because he felt weak.
PO3 Jose Dumaguit of the Police Regional Office (PRO)-Central Visayas Intelligence Division went to the cult leader's house at 8:50 p.m. last Friday and arrested him, along with two assistants.
Andrey Sawchenko, International Justice Mission (IJM) field director, said the arrest resulted from a criminal complaint against the cult leader last year.
He said the man was arrested in May 2009 and charged with qualified trafficking and three counts of child abuse.
The case was sent to Manila for review, but the justice department agreed there was basis to proceed with the case. So the police implemented the warrant and arrested him.
Trafficking in persons is committed when anyone "recruits, transports, transfers... a person by any means, including those done under the pretext of domestic or overseas employment or training or apprenticeship, for the purpose of prostitution, pornography, sexual exploitation, forced labor, slavery, involuntary servitude or debt bondage."
(The law against trafficking requires that the names of trafficked persons and the accused should not be revealed to the public.)
Sawchenko, quoting witnesses, said the girls that fell into the cult leader's clutches were recruited from other places and brought to Lapu-Lapu City.
There, the girls, aged 10 to 16 years old, were allegedly made to have sex with the cult leader and his colleagues.
The elements of human trafficking include recruiting, harboring and holding victims in a place, as well as threats and intimidation, Sawchenko explained.
After his arrest last year, the cult leader was eventually released because of questions raised over the legality of the proceedings.
The complaint was still filed, though, and underwent regular preliminary investigation.
Investigators found probable cause and went to court, then Regional Trial Court Judge Gilbert Moises issued an arrest warrant in October 2009 for the cult leader.
But the arrest warrant was suspended the following month, because the cult leader filed a petition for review with the Department of Justice (DOJ).
After a year, the DOJ denied the petition and Regional Trial Court Judge Gabriel Ingles lifted the suspension of the warrant this month. (OCPCEBU CITY -- Police arrested last Friday a cult leader in Lapu-Lapu City and his two female assistants, in connection with a case of human trafficking filed against the man last year.
The cult leader, who is elderly, allegedly convinced the girls to have sex with him so they would be healed.
He was detained, but was brought to the hospital Saturday because he felt weak.
PO3 Jose Dumaguit of the Police Regional Office (PRO)-Central Visayas Intelligence Division went to the cult leader's house at 8:50 p.m. last Friday and arrested him, along with two assistants.
Andrey Sawchenko, International Justice Mission (IJM) field director, said the arrest resulted from a criminal complaint against the cult leader last year.
He said the man was arrested in May 2009 and charged with qualified trafficking and three counts of child abuse.
The case was sent to Manila for review, but the justice department agreed there was basis to proceed with the case. So the police implemented the warrant and arrested him.
Trafficking in persons is committed when anyone "recruits, transports, transfers... a person by any means, including those done under the pretext of domestic or overseas employment or training or apprenticeship, for the purpose of prostitution, pornography, sexual exploitation, forced labor, slavery, involuntary servitude or debt bondage."
(The law against trafficking requires that the names of trafficked persons and the accused should not be revealed to the public.)
Sawchenko, quoting witnesses, said the girls that fell into the cult leader's clutches were recruited from other places and brought to Lapu-Lapu City.
There, the girls, aged 10 to 16 years old, were allegedly made to have sex with the cult leader and his colleagues.
The elements of human trafficking include recruiting, harboring and holding victims in a place, as well as threats and intimidation, Sawchenko explained.
After his arrest last year, the cult leader was eventually released because of questions raised over the legality of the proceedings.
The complaint was still filed, though, and underwent regular preliminary investigation.
Investigators found probable cause and went to court, then Regional Trial Court Judge Gilbert Moises issued an arrest warrant in October 2009 for the cult leader.
But the arrest warrant was suspended the following month, because the cult leader filed a petition for review with the Department of Justice (DOJ).
After a year, the DOJ denied the petition and Regional Trial Court Judge Gabriel Ingles lifted the suspension of the warrant this month. (OCP
