Tagaytay wellness center owner sues doctor
Antonia Carandang-Park, owner of Green and Young Health and Wellness Center on Saturday questioned the findings of the NBI investigation into her practice and its motives in filing a case against her. FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines—The owner of a wellness center in Tagaytay City that counts former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo as a former client has filed perjury charges against an ex-employee who accused the owner of misrepresenting herself as a licensed doctor.
Antonia Carandang-Park, owner of Green and Young Health and Wellness Center, filed “perjury and intriguing against honors” charges against Dr. Eunice Abad whose allegations against her became the basis for the National Bureau of Investigation’s (NBI) filing charges of illegal practice of medicine against Park in April.
Park, through her lawyer Stephen Cascollan, on Saturday questioned the findings of the NBI investigation into her practice and its motives in filing a case against her. She also denied that she had fled the country.
In her complaint, Park said Abad had made “false and malicious” statements against her to the NBI and in media interviews.
Abad gave a statement to the NBI saying that Park offered stem cell therapy at her Tagaytay-based center and had misrepresented herself as a licensed doctor.
Abad, a medical doctor, also accused Park of using her (Abad’s) license to practice medicine.
“My client can only speculate that Abad’s motive for her malicious accusations is a form of retaliation for the estafa case filed against her by Park before the Tagaytay RTC for which a warrant of arrest has been issued,” Cascolan said.
Cascolan said his client was questioning the NBI’s motives in filing the case against her last month.
“It is a surprise why the NBI endorsed a complaint against Park when upon review of Abad’s affidavit, it is clear that Abad herself was not filing any specific complaint,” Cascolan said.
“The NBI should have clarified who the complainant is and what the specific complaint is,” he said.
Last month, the NBI filed charges of illegal practice of medicine against Park after the results of their investigation showed that she was neither licensed to practice medicine nor was she on the roster of physicians of the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC).
According to Aristotle Adolfo of the NBI anti-organized crime division, Park had introduced herself as an oncologist to patients visiting her clinic in San Jose, Tagaytay City, including to Arroyo, who is suffering from a bone disease.
The NBI said Park had also used the medical license of Abad, who discovered the anomaly while still under the employ of the accused.
In her statement to the NBI, Abad said she became suspicious of Park when she “noticed some irregularities and unorthodox methods when treating her patients.”
Her suspicions, the NBI said, prompted Abad to seek verification with the PRC.
Adolfo also said that a relative of a patient, Roger Bandola, who allegedly died after being treated by Park, had filed a complaint with the NBI and had provided investigators with a “paper trail.”
Park, in her counteraffidavit, admitted that she was not a licensed physician and denied “that her wellness center is engaged in the practice of medicine.”
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