The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) uncovered shocking abuses against children at the New Life Baptist Church of Mexico, Pampanga Inc. during a routine monitoring visit by its Field Office 3 team.

“During our quarterly monitoring, when our Standards Bureau staff visited the facility, some children approached them and shared that they were being hurt,” revealed DSWD Secretary Rex Gatchalian on Friday.

Assistant Secretary Janet Armas of the Regulatory Services and Institutional Development Group explained that the SB, the DSWD’s frontline regulatory body for social welfare and development agencies, regularly conducts inspections to ensure facilities comply with safety and welfare standards.

“When our Central Luzon social workers arrived, they saw the children firsthand. The kids themselves told them what was happening… they even showed complaints that they were tied up — literally chained. Some were locked in the bathroom as punishment for violating the facility’s rules,” Armas said.

The children were also reportedly deprived of food as punishment, particularly if they tried to escape or failed to complete assigned tasks.

The SB team immediately documented the physical, verbal and psychological abuse, while also assessing the facility itself. Their findings were compiled into a report and submitted to Secretary Gatchalian, who wasted no time in issuing a Cease and Desist Order early Wednesday morning.

By 2 p.m., the CDO was served to Pastor Jeremy Ferguson, the American director of NLBCMPI, with assistance from Field Office 3 and the Pampanga Police Office.

Later that night, around 11 p.m., Pastor Ferguson was arrested under Republic Act 7610, the Special Protection of Children Against Abuse, Exploitation, and Discrimination Act. The operation was carried out by Mexico, Pampanga police and Field Office 3 personnel led by Regional Director Venus Rebuldela.

By the end of the day, all 160 children from NLBCMPI were accounted for and placed under the protective custody of the Regional Social Care Center in Lubao, Pampanga.

“They worked together during the rescue — not just DSWD, but also the Philippine National Police and the Commission on Human Rights — because based on the children’s complaints, their rights were being violated,” Armas said.

She added that the rescued children will receive proper care, including psychosocial support and social work interventions to help them recover from trauma.

“We will conduct psychosocial processing and social work interventions. The children will be talked to, and we will complete their individual documentation. Only then will we have the full details of their experiences,” Armas explained.

The DSWD Standards Bureau has also coordinated with the Bureau of Immigration to issue a Hold Departure Order against Ferguson, ensuring he cannot leave the country while facing criminal charges.