CIDG tracks patients at fake COVID hospital patients

MANILA, Philippines — The Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) yesterday formed tracker teams to locate Chinese citizens said to be infected with the coronavirus disease 2019 or COVID-19 who were treated at a clandestine hospital at Clark Freeport in Pampanga.

Brig. Gen. Rhoderick Armamento, CIDG deputy director for operations, said probers are interrogating Hu Ling and Lee Seung Hyun, alleged supervisor and pharmacist, respectively, of the makeshift hospital at the Fontana Leisure Parks, for leads on the identities of the patients.

Armamento said many patients could have been treated in the illegal facility, citing the hospital wastes, such as syringes, found at the scene. “Mga tatlong plastic, pakalat-kalat lang,” he said in an interview over Teleradyo.

He said the patients could be unwittingly spreading the virus, thinking that they have been cured.

Armamento said two police officers who were part of the raiding team were quarantined as a precautionary measure while the suspects were tested for COVID-19.

Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said they are leaving it up to the CIDG and Bureau of Immigration (BI) to locate the patients.

“The CIDG and the BI are coordinating well enough. I will let the NBI (National Bureau of Investigation) step in if the manhunt encounters rough sailing,” Guevarra said.

The Clark Development Corp. ordered the closure of Fontana following the raid on Tuesday. Authorities are validating reports that the facility has been operating since February.

Meanwhile, Lt. Col. Amante Daro, CIDG Central Luzon field office chief, said a warehouse at the Clark Economic Zone, where medicine from the hospital reportedly originated, was raided in a follow-up operation on Wednesday.

Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said the suspects face charges for practicing medicine without a license issued by the Professional Regulation Commission and administering drugs not registered with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Roque said Malacañang was “alarmed” by the discovery of the illegal health facility.

He said the government recognizes Chinese medicine, but stressed that it should be approved by the FDA. Evelyn Macairan, Alexis Romero