Gov’t shuts down illegal hospital allegedly treating Pogo workers

MANILA, Philippines — The Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) shut down an illegal hospital allegedly serving victims of Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (Pogos) crimes.

According to PAOCC spokesperson Winston Casio, authorities raided the illegal hospital in Hobbies of Asia, Pasay City, last Monday. Casio said they have been surveying the site for several weeks and found foreigners operating the hospital without proper licenses.

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“Kinailangan pong imbestiga sapagkat kami ay mayroong pangamba na ang mga Pogo workers na nagkakasakit o di kaya’y yung mga binabaril ‘pag kinikidnap [o] tinotorture sa mga Pogos ay hindi pumupunta sa legal na ospital kung hindi ang mga ospital na tulad nito,” said Casio at the Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon public briefing.

(We need to investigate this because we are concerned that Pogo workers who get sick or shot when kidnapped or tortured in Pogos do not go to legal hospitals but to illegal ones like this.)

READ: Nearly 600 detained in anti-trafficking raid on Pasay Pogo

“Kaya nga po namin ito napasara (We needed to shut it down),” he added.

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According to Casio, they caught three foreign doctors without the proper license to work in the Philippines —  two Vietnamese and one Chinese. Authorities also apprehended a pharmacist and a nurse who do not have licenses to operate.

The hospital is also not recognized by the Department of Health, the PAOCC official added.