2 Chinese arrested in underground hospital in Pampanga now on immigration alert list

Published May 28, 2020 12:45 PM By NICOLE-ANNE C. LAGRIMAS, GMA News

The two Chinese nationals who were released the same day they were arrested from an allegedly illegal hospital in Pampanga are now on the Bureau of Immigration's (BI) alert list.

The BI said Thursday the two will be prevented from leaving the country and will instead be referred to the bureau's intelligence and legal divisions for investigation should they be encountered at the airport.

The bureau identified the two Chinese nationals as Liu Wei and Hu Shiling. They were arrested from a medical facility at the Fontana Leisure Park that was raided by police last week, but were reportedly released on the same day without charges.

Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra earlier said he will order the BI to be on the lookout for the two.

Immigration Commissioner Jaime Morente said they were also ordered to locate four Chinese patients who were being treated at the Clark facility, whom he said can be charged under the immigration law if they are found to have violated the conditions of their stay in the country.

Morente added that the BI is separately investigating Chinese nationals who were caught operating a clandestine hospital, allegedly for COVID-19 patients, in Makati City.

“I have instructed our Intelligence Division to investigate if these alleged Chinese nationals are legally staying in the country. Should we find they violated our immigration laws, they will be charged with deportation cases before our law and investigation division,” he said in the statement.

BI intelligence chief Fortunato Manahan, Jr. said the bureau is now ascertaining the identities and the visa status of the Chinese doctors.

"We are also investigating if there is a connection between these two clandestine facilities and their Chinese operators," Manahan said.

Police on Tuesday raided an allegedly unlicensed medical facility in Makati and reportedly found medicines, syringes, and equipment for COVID-19 testing.

The city police chief said the clinic had no business permit and the Chinese doctor working there did not have a license to practice in the Philippines.—AOL, GMA News

 

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