City takes custody of Salve Me kids

Salve Me children left behind their tree houses and rustic life for the first time after the Cebu City government took them for custody yesterday.

Members of the Salve Me Task Force took under custody at least 15 juveniles of ages 1 to 16, purportedly in a move to save them from alleged sexual abuses by cult master Alfredo Verano and free them from a decrepit and oppressive cult lifestyle.

The inter-agency task force includes representatives from the Commission on Human Rights, the Department of Social Welfare, Development and the Cebu City Commission for the Welfare and Protection of the Children, among others.

Salve Me Pater Omnis Oculus Meus, which loosely means "Father forgive me of my sins," carries with it vestiges of a cult because it is small in size and members are held together by the intense loyalty of followers to its leader.

Cult parents, while they did not put up any resistance, watched as their children were taken away by members of the Salve Me Task Force. The children are now under the custody of the DSWD.

During an investigation led by the CHR early this month, former members of the cult narrated sordid and bizarre tales of sexual abuse on women and how children were exploited with hard labor. The task force found the children living in caves and tree houses.

Yesterday a doctor who examined the children found them never to have any immunization shots. They were never trained to have personal hygiene and appear to have nutrition problems. City health physician Milagros Padion described the children as "underweight for their age."

Asked if there is any legal implication on the custody, Councilor Gerardo Carillo said the city will file a case for protective custody before the Regional Trial Court.

Carillo, who is chairman of the committee on social services, and laws and good government, said the children will not be released "until such time" the cultural norms of the cult change. Salve Me children are reportedly not allowed to go to school and are made to dig in caves. — Freeman News Service