Philippines

One of The Family's most successful subversive operations is described in several Mo Letters known as "The Jumbo Series." Armed with music and inspirational tapes, well-dressed young women from the cult infiltrated military barracks and offices, presenting themselves to the secretaries and asking to speak with colonels and generals, often with propositions such as "Tell him that two pretty young girls want to talk to him about love." On many occasions they were welcomed, even into the most closed of offices. When the official in question was known to be moral (and the women would be careful to inquire about this beforehand), the approach was more circumspect.

In just a few months, the Children of God had thoroughly infiltrated the military, using their anti-Communist literature, their Flirty Fishing sexual practices, and their music to win some of the highest officials in the nation. During the entire infiltration operation, David Berg and Karen Zerby directed the work and counseled their teams through letters and phone calls, and nothing was done without their express permission.

With the fall of the Ferdinand Marcos government these same officials rose to power, and with them, the Children of God's status. When Cardinal Jaime Sin stirred up public opinion against the cult and demanded its expulsion from the country, the military quietly came to its defense. After the cult sent its American and European members to Thailand and other countries (from which they were later expelled), the Philippine armed forces enabled it to continue "underground."

David Berg wrote a pamphlet entitled "The Red Menace" which was distributed among all the military in the Philippines. This pamphlet was printed by the Aquino government's own military leaders and distributed, not by the Children of God, but by the soldiers themselves on orders from the military leadership. In this pamphlet, Berg sounds a "call to arms" for the soldiers to rise up against "the Red Beast." But in secret letters to his disciples Berg declared his intention to be awakening the military to the "danger" of the supposedly pro-Communist government of Corazon Aquino.

In the early 90s, The Family was going strong with the full protection of Corazon Aquino's military. The layer of military protection was so great that a round-the-clock military armed guard was provided at "Jumbo" – a large Family center in Manila.

More Information

• The Manila Military Ministry: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 — By Edward Priebe, 2001

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