Children in Suits: How MCGI Runs on Teen Slave Labor
- Rosa Rosal
- Nov 18
- 3 min read
They greet visitors with formal smiles.
Teenagers in suits.
Barely out of high school.
Introduced as "batang may tungkulin", but described by former members as a hidden workforce that keeps MCGI’s operations running day and night.
Inside MCGI local chapters or "lokal", these minors belong to a committee called GCOS. Publicly, they appear to handle visitor assistance. In reality, testimonies show they take on a long list of tasks that mirror full-time labor. They clean entire halls before and after gatherings. They move supplies, reset chairs, wash areas used for worship and prepare the venue for the next round of activities.
Former members say MCGI chapters function less like places of worship and more like business centers, with teens handling much of the physical work needed to keep things moving.
MCGI’s commercial presence inside the chapters is visible. MCGI Hydrogen Water, food packs in styro boxes, shirts, herbal supplements and Daniel’s Coffee are all sold to a captive audience.
Teen workers pack and carry these items, set them up for display and serve the crowd during breaks. During marathon worships that stretch up to eight hours, GCOS members roam the aisles, offering coffee to tired attendees to keep them engaged.
These services, repeated many times a week, provide steady sales for the organization. The minors act as the unpaid labor powering it from behind the scenes.
Former GCOS members also describe the toll these marathon schedules took on their development. Late-ending services meant they slept only a few hours before school. Some recall going to class barely able to keep their eyes open. Others say they often skipped homework, failed exams or missed important school days after being assigned late-night duties.
Several MCGI exiters say these routines blunted their academic growth and reduced their chances to reach their full intellectual potential. A tired youth, they argue, remains more compliant, more dependent and less likely to question the demands placed upon them.
The allegations extend outside the chapter walls. Several testimonies identify incidents in which minors were transported to Orani, Bataan during the construction of KDRAC (Kuya Daniel Adventure Camp), a 70-hectare theme park linked to MCGI leadership. Former members recall teenagers carrying construction materials, mixing cement and working beside adult laborers for a project that benefited the church’s affiliated ventures. No wages, contracts or protective measures were reported.
As more exiters speak out, a consistent picture emerges: a church heavily dependent on unpaid youth labor to sustain its operations. The teenagers are visible at the doors, dressed sharply to project discipline and respectability. But their real work happens away from the public eye, in the kitchens, stockrooms, back halls and construction sites that support the business side of a religious empire.
The testimonies raise urgent questions. Who authorized the use of minors for tasks resembling full employment? Why were they deployed to construction work? What safeguards exist for their schooling, their health and their right to adequate rest? How much of MCGI’s revenue relies on a labor force too young to defend its rights?
Behind every polished suit is a child performing the work of an adult. This, former members say, is the real machinery that keeps MCGI running.
