NBI raids illegal clinic that caters to Chinese POGO workers 

An illegal clinic in Makati City that caters to Chinese citizens, mostly workers at Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGO), was raided by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI). 

According to Jonathan Andal’s report in “24 Oras Weekend” on Saturday, the clinic located in Barangay San Isidro is allegedly connected to an illegal POGO hub in the Calabarzon region that is also being monitored by the NBI. 

The raid caught four Chinese patients and seven Filipino clinic personnel, of whom two are doctors. 

“Puro ang sagot nila ay wala silang alam dito, ang mga pasyente daw nila ay Pilipino. Pero talagang during our surveillance, nagke-cater lamang sila sa Chinese,” said NBI Director Jaime Santiago, referring to the apprehended Filipinos.

(They kept on saying that they don’t know anything about this and their patients are only Filipinos. But during our surveillance, we found out that they only cater to Chinese patients.) 

Santiago said that one of the Chinese patients said that their doctor was a fellow female citizen. 

But the authorities failed to catch the alleged Chinese doctor, believing that she could be one of the two Chinese citizens who were able to escape. 

“Kung saan saan sila tumalon sa ibang mga bakuran dito, mga eskinita, bubong, sinikap talagang habulin ngunit di sila naabutan,” said NBI Calabarzon Regional Director Eric Mercado. 

(They jumped into other fences, alleys, and roofs, and we really tried to catch them.) 

The report also said that authorities discovered that the raided clinic was not registered with the Department of Health. 

Also found in the clinic were Chinese medicines that are not registered with the Food and Drug Administration. 

The NBI has brought the four Chinese and seven Filipinos to its headquarters for investigation, the report said. —Vince Angelo Ferreras/VBL, GMA Integrated News