Thu | May 14, 2026

Philippine police raid illegal hospital for virus patients

Published:Wednesday | May 20, 2020 | 10:06 AM
In this May 19, 2020, photo provided by the Philippine National Police, Criminal Investigation and Detection Group Regional Field Units 3, police teams wearing protective suits inspect a seven-bed hospital beside a drug store during a raid at a residential villa, which was illegally turned into a medical facility, at the Clark Freeport and Special Economic Zone northwest of Manila. (CIDG Regional Field Units 3 via AP)

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Philippine police raided a clandestine hospital and drugstore that were secretly treating Chinese citizens suspected of being infected with the coronavirus, police officials said Wednesday.

Two people were arrested and one patient was found during Tuesday’s raid at the residential villa that had been illegally turned into a seven-bed hospital and drugstore, police Brigadier General Rhoderick Armamento said.

More than 200 suspected coronavirus rapid test kits and syringes were recovered from trash cans at the villa.

The hospital and drugstore are in a large room by a swimming pool at the back of the compound, according to Armamento and a police video.

The male Chinese patient was moved to a Philippine hospital.

Those arrested were the Chinese administrator of the hospital, which may have been operating secretly for about three months, and a compatriot who manned the drugstore, he said.

“They have practised medicine and prescribed drugs without a license,” Armamento said by telephone.

“The Chinese patients who were brought there may still be walking around in public and can infect other people.”

The villa is in the Clark Freeport and Special Economic Zone, a former US Air Force base turned into a commercial and leisure centre with upscale residential enclaves northwest of Manila.

Most of the medical facility’s clients may have come from the large number of Chinese citizens working in online gambling outfits in Clark, Armamento said.

The Philippines, backed by the Chinese government, has launched a crackdown on Chinese who mostly entered the country as tourists and then worked for the online gambling operations, which are illegal in China.

The outfits cater mostly to Chinese clients in mainland China.

Illegal Chinese workers are likely to avoid regular Philippine hospitals because they might be identified and arrested, Armamento said.

Follow The Gleaner on Twitter and Instagram @JamaicaGleaner and on Facebook @GleanerJamaica. Send us a message on WhatsApp at 1-876-499-0169 or email us at onlinefeedback@gleanerjm.com or editors@gleanerjm.com.