MANILA, Philippines — Police raided a Chinese-run clinic in Parañaque around midnight of Saturday, the third such illegal facility found in the city, as authorities widened the crackdown on clandestine medical establishments allegedly catering to Chinese coronavirus patients.
According to the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO), the raid yielded some 237 boxes and bags of medicines presumably for the treatment of the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19), although there is currently no known cure for the deadly respiratory disease.
Maj. Gen. Debold Sinas, NCRPO director, said the clinic was found on the second floor of the Diamond Bay Tower on Roxas Boulevard. The same building was raided several times last year by the police who were also on the lookout for prostitution and illegal gambling activities.
Saturday’s raid was based on a search warrant issued by Judge Noemi Balitaan of Parañaque City Regional Trial Court Branch 258. No arrests were made.
Testing clinic in market
Quoting the city’s Business Permit and Licensing Office, Sinas said the clinic was operating without proper permits.
On Friday afternoon, the National Bureau of Investigation also found a makeshift rapid testing clinic in a Las Piñas City market.
The bureau’s National Capital Region chief Cesar Bacani said agents who conducted a surveillance operation saw about a hundred Chinese nationals undergoing tests at the clinic for COVID-19. d
Authorities were still verifying if the Chinese were working for a Philippine offshore gaming operator, or POGO.
The NBI earlier gathered that they were undergoing testing as a “preemployment” requirement, Bacani said. A still-unidentified Chinese physician was said to be facilitating the tests, reportedly assisted by a Filipino.
A total of six illegal clinics catering to Chinese nationals have been discovered since April, including two in Parañaque that were raided earlier that month and in May.
In May, the police arrested five Chinese nationals in Pampanga for allegedly operating a clandestine clinic in Angeles City and a drugstore at Clark Freeport.
A week later, two Chinese doctors were arrested for operating a clinic in San Antonio Village, Makati City, after authorities were alerted to a sewer line clogged with medical waste.
—Krixia Subingsubing, Nikka G. Valenzuela and Inquirer Research
Sources: Inquirer Archives, ncrpo.pnp.gov.ph