JUSTICE Secretary Menardo Guevarra on Tuesday ordered the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to conduct its own probe into the illegal operations of a medical facility inside the Fontana Leisure Park in Clark, Pampanga allegedly run by Chinese.
Guevarra gave the directive after the Chinese supervisor and pharmacist who were recently arrested by police operatives were set free without charges being filed against them.
Guevarra could not hide his dismay when sought for comment on the development of the case, adding that the suspects should have been brought to a prosecutor for inquest proceedings.
“These two foreign nationals should have been brought to the inquest prosecutor instead of being released. If this is true, I will ask the NBI to step in and do its own investigation and instruct the Bureau of Immigration to also look out for them,” Guevarra said.
Guevarra has earlier directed the BI to track down all those behind the operation of the illegal medical facility allegedly catering to Chinese and other foreign nationals with suspected COVID-19.
Fontana Assistant General Manager Simon Wu in a statement said the two Chinese, identified as Hu Ling and Lee Seung Hyun, were released by authorities on the same day of the raid with no charges filed before the prosecutor’s office. Hu was the supervisor of the clandestine facility, while Lee was the pharmacist.
The May 19 raid was carried out by the PNP-CIDG Region 3 and the Food and Drugs Administration.
On Monday, the CIDG Region 3 said the filing of the formal complaints have been delayed pending the issuance of certification from the FDA that the medicines recovered in the raid were untested by the FDA, and hence, illegal.
Guevarra said while the Supreme Court has disallowed the BI from issuing hold departure orders, they can still prevent the two from leaving the country if they have cases pending against them. “If the BI finds that the subject nationals have pending immigration or criminal cases, they may be stopped from leaving the country immediately,” he said.
The SC in 2018 ruled that only the courts can issue a precautionary hold departure orders.
