Allegations of abuse among members of the alleged cult Socorro Bayanihan Services Inc., including child marriage and rape, first started after the group changed leaders in 2019, Surigao del Norte Gov. Lyndon Barbers said Monday.
Barbers said that as far back as the early 2000s, he had already heard about SBSI and its then leader, Nena Taruc or Mama Nena. Back then, he said SBSI was known to do farming, having been granted a Protected Area Community-Based Resource Management Agreement by the DENR.
Barbers said he visited the SBSI enclave in Sitio Kapihan in 2022 to distribute relief goods but did not notice anything different or alarming. "Wala naman kababalaghan na nangyayari," he said.
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