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[MANILA, 5 June] - Authorities in the Philippines are desperately searching the countryside in the southern province of Sultan Kulerat for a large number of children believed to have been stolen by a cult that is allegedly abusing children. In what is being called a massive child search and rescue operation, the military and police are looking for a cave where scores of children have been brought to be members of the cult. Authorities were alerted to the mass kidnappings after an account by a 14-year-old boy who claimed to have escaped from the cult prompted authorities to search for the cave, possibly located in the mountains near Lutayan town. The remote hinterland province is also home to rebel groups. It is unclear if the children are being kidnapped for service in the various armed bands that roam the Philippine countryside. The government-run news agency reports: " The cult is believed to be responsible for the disappearance of children in various places, including South Cotabato, Sarangani and General Santos City". "The boy, whose identity and address were withheld for security reasons, was brought to the Lutayan police station by residents approached by the child after fleeing from the cult." The State-run news agency report added "Police say that there have been other similar reports of this kind of crime," adding that the boy's escape may shed light on the disappearance of hundreds of other young boys and adolescents. "He told policemen that he was kidnapped several weeks ago by a group of men. They covered his nose with a substance-laced cloth and he lost consciousness. When he woke up, the boy found himself in a dark cave filled with children, who had also been kidnapped." The National Police Headquarters operations centre in Manila say they fear the cult may be a cover for a mass recruitment by kidnapping of insurgent groups who have done this before on Basilan Island in the Southern Philippines. Four insurgent groups operate in the Southern Philippines including Communist rebels, two factions of the Islamic separatist movement the MNLF and the MILF, but most of these groups do not engage in the kidnapping of children. The fourth, an Al Qaeda linked group of insurgents called the Abu Sayyaf, which is an ally of the Jemaah Islamiah and Al Qaeda, is known to "recruit and brainwash' young men and boys, often keeping them for weeks until they join raids or crime sprees or to use them as 'cannon fodder". Authorities say that on previous occasions when the group has kidnap young men and boys, it was often prior to engaging in large battles. UNESCO and UNCHR have in the past condemned the use of child fighters in conflicts in the Philippine insurgency. As the Philippine economy has improved it has become harder for some armed groups to find recruits, according to the authorities.