Why Even the Left Failed Us: The Silence of Progressive Groups on Cult Exploitation in the Philippines

In most Western countries, cults are seen as fringe. Strange, isolated, even laughable. But in the Philippines, cults are deeply embedded in the system. Groups like MCGI and the Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KOJC) are not just religious groups. They are political machines, business empires, and obedience factories, all hiding behind a facade of faith.

They run farms, schools, TV networks, construction companies. Their members are unpaid workers, captive donors, and loyal voters. Their leaders are millionaires with access to Congress and national media. And while they exploit their members economically, spiritually, and psychologically, most progressive and leftist groups say nothing.

MCGI members face double exploitation—forced donations and overpriced captive market basic goods sold by MCGI Leadership.

Even the Left failed us

They claim to fight for the oppressed. They chant slogans about workers and peasants. But when it comes to cults exploiting their members under religious justification? Silence.

Take Akbayan, for example. A supposedly progressive party-list. It was only when KOJC leader Apollo Quiboloy became national news for rape and trafficking and because of his ties to Duterte, that Akbayan’s national chair emeritus, Senator Risa Hontiveros, took visible action. The outrage was convenient. The timing was political. It wasn’t about cult accountability, it was about Quiboloy’s role in the regime they already opposed.

Where is the outrage when these cults hijack the party-list system meant for the marginalized, and use it to insert billionaires and religious proxies into Congress? Where are they when MCGI members are blackmailed, surveilled, and economically drained by their own leaders?

Related: How MCGI and a Billionaire Exploited the Partylist System

Let’s be clear. These cults don’t just preach. They operate like corporations with divine branding. They exploit labor, control votes, and silence dissent, all while being tax-exempt. They’re not just spiritual parasites. They’re political operators. And yet, no major movement, either leftist or liberal has launched a sustained campaign to confront them.

As more leave MCGI, the burden grows heavier for those who remain—forced to cover the church’s lost income. BES stands for Bro. Eli Soriano Sardines. A shampoo called Arlene Shampoo, named after Arlene Razon (wife of MCGI leader Daniel Razon), is also peddled to members.

Why the silence?

Because these cults deliver votes. They offer ready-made mass bases. They’re too big, too useful, too politically dangerous to confront. But if you claim to fight exploitation, then you can’t be selective.

Cult victims are some of the most gaslit, isolated, and economically-abused people in the country. If your activism doesn’t include them, it’s performative. If your politics protects religious abusers because they’re politically convenient, you are complicit.

And for us who’ve left these cults behind, this is why we must focus more on exposing the system than attacking each other. We may not all be friends. We may disagree. But we share a common enemy that thrives on our division.

We don’t need to unify personalities. We need to unite in purpose. Expose the cult. Defund its empire. Break its spell.

Because no one else is going to do it for us.