An American pastor who allegedly abused 156 children recalled how police raided his orphanage to arrest him in the Philippines.

Jeremy Ferguson, 48, was arrested for suspected child abuse and other violations at the care facility in Pampanga province, around two hours north of the capital Manila, on August 13.

Dozens were rescued from the New Life Baptist Church of Mexico as local authorities accused the missionary of allegedly chaining the minors like dogs, forcing them to kneel on gravel or salt, beating them with wooden sticks or PVC pipes, locking them in toilets, and depriving them of food.

Speaking from a detention cell at the Pampanga Police Station, Jeremy recounted the dramatic moment cops converged on the orphanage.

He said: 'Recently, we had a regular monitoring visit by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), and the next day they came back and raided us with over a hundred armed policemen. It was a huge circus and they took all the kids by force, claiming that there were allegations of abuse - physical, verbal, and psychological abuse.

'They did not make any allegations of sexual abuse. They just made a lot of allegations about these different kinds of abuse. They were even saying the kids were being fed rotten food with worms and rocks, and they were complaining about a lot of things like broken windows and they didn't like the fact that there were locks on the gates.

'There was a whole list of complaints, and after the raid, they came back a few hours later and arrested me, saying that a couple of the kids said I had forced them to kneel down in the room as a punishment and fed them rotten food that very same day, so therefore they've been able to enforce a warrantless arrest and I've been in prison since then. I'm waiting for some trial stuff to happen.

'We are just praying for these kids, because these kids were like our own and these kids were so close to us. The kids were literally crying and just going crazy. They were being forced to get into the government vehicles. They were throwing rocks, they were cursing, they were tackling me to the ground begging me not to let them go.

'There was nothing I could do, there was nothing our staff could do because there was over a hundred police officers with M16 machine guns, and we have video to prove all of that from the CCTV footage from the facilities.'

He also asked for prayers, claiming the children had been 'kidnapped and traumatised' following the raid.

The DSWD on Monday said they found more alleged violations during follow-up investigations on the orphanage, including inadequate facilities and personnel.

DSWD spokesman Assistant Secretary Irene Dumlao said: 'We noticed that the other children were sharing a bed, when each child should be allotted a bed of their own.

'We also saw there was a shortage of personnel in the residential care center. You should have a social worker, house parents, and there should be a social worker ratio that is set as part of our standards.'

The staff also reportedly failed to properly document donations received by the facility, which is at risk of being blacklisted from the DSWD registry of welfare agencies.

The DSWD said Jeremy was charged with two counts of violating the Special Protection of Children Against Child Abuse, Exploitation and Discrimination Act. Each count carries a recommended bail of 80,000 PHP.

The Bureau of Immigration said he was also placed under immigration watch to keep him from fleeing the Philippines.

Bureau of Immigration (BI) Commissioner Joel Anthony Viado said a deportation case was being prepared. He said: 'This kind of depravity has no place in our country. We will make sure this individual is expelled from the Philippines after facing his cases here so he may never prey on our children again. Foreign nationals who think they can come here and harm our people will face the full force of the law and the wrath of our justice system.'