PAOCC RAIDED ILLEGAL FOREIGN CLINICS AND HOSPITAL

Illegal clinics and hospitals in the country, raided (Photo courtesy of Philippine Star)

Authorities have raided seven clandestine hospitals and clinics since February, where doctors, nurses, and pharmacists are Vietnamese and Chinese. The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) believes that these are illegal hospitals for foreign patients who do not want their document of stay in the country to be checked.

The Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) raid and closed the hospital in Pasay City that was operating illegally in a compound on Macapagal Avenue. According to authorities, the hospital is fully equipped with blood tests and CT scans.

It also has an operating room and a dental checkup. Two Vietnamese and one Chinese doctor were arrested, along with a Vietnamese nurse and a Chinese pharmacist. All of them do not have a license from the Professional Regulation Commission.

“According to our report, a clinic like this is not just one, there are many more like this in Metro Manila. Like I said it is an underlying problem indicative of a much larger problem that POGO is causing a big problem in our country,” PAOCC Spokesperson Dr. Winston John Casio stated. 

The clinic doesn’t have a permit to operate and the foreign patients caught in the raid were released while the foreign doctors and nurses were detained at the Bureau of Immigration and will face criminal charges and immigration violations.

PAOCC believes that POGO workers are the patients they accept. According to USec. Gilbert Cruz "Actually that was one of the reasons why we investigated it. Because there are torture victims who are POGO workers who have no record at the hospital, but what the victims say is that they were taken to a hospital and treated. So most likely this is it.”

On Friday, the NBI raided the hidden clinic in Pasay to conduct an entrapment operation, and a Chinese man was found to be prescribing medicine even without a license. According to the NBI, it is possible that this is to help their compatriots to hide or to avoid being checked by the authorities.

Source: GMA Integrated News

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