Underground clinic raided in Pasay allegedly involved in abortion practices — BI

The recently raided underground clinic in Pasay City was also allegedly involved in abortion practices, the Bureau of Immigration (BI) said Wednesday.

“Reports that the PAOCC (Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission) and the BI received were medyo scary already because they were allegedly involved in abortion practices,”  Immigration spokesperson Dana Sandoval said during Kapihan sa Manila Bay.

(Reports that the PAOCC and the BI received were somewhat scary because they involved abortion, they were allegedly involved in abortion practices.)

“In the front, it was just a regular wellness clinic. So it’s like a spa with other wellness procedures. But at the back, there are actually covert operations on foreign nationals doing these, ano, karumaldumal itong (nefarious activities na ito,” she later added.

The PAOCC and the BI conducted the raid on Tuesday. They found several high-end pieces of equipment that included a hemodialysis machine and medical paraphernalia.

Sandoval said three Vietnamese nationals and two Chinese nationals were arrested.

“Yung isa talaga ang target natin was the Vietnamese doctor, Doctor Sam ang pakilala niya. And then the rest were like clinic people. Not necessarily doctors but also in the medical field,” she said.

(Our target was a Vietnamese doctor who introduced himself as Doctor Sam. And the rest were clinic people. Not necessarily doctors but also in the medical field.)

The Immigration official said the arrest was significant as the foreign nationals involved in such practices were “already a nuisance to public safety.”

She stressed that the establishment had no permits while the employees had no visas.

“Wala po silang permit. They do not have permits… They have no work visas. They do not have anything, essentially. It’s an underground clinic,” she said.

This was confirmed by Pasay Mayor Emi Calixto-Rubiano.

“Nabigyan po ‘yan ng show-cause order. Wala pong permit and in fact, nakipag ugnayan din kami before pa, sa administrator ng building upang ipaalam na kailangan ‘yung kanilang mga businesses na nandyan ay mayroong business permit,” she said in a report on Unang Balita.

(They were given a show-cause order. They do not have a permit and in fact, we have coordinated with them before, with the administrator of the building, to inform them that they have to secure business permits.)

Meanwhile, Sandoval called on local government units (LGUs) to report to the BI illegal activities of foreign nationals in their area..

“We’re actually requesting din LGUs. We have previous communications with LGUs requesting them to submit to us if they see any kind of foreign national that are working in their communities,” she said.—AOL, GMA Integrated News