Authorities have arrested two Chinese nationals last week for operating a makeshift health facility in Clark, Pampanga.
Chinese nationals Liu Wei and Hu Shiling were placed under immigration watchlist, authorities said on Thursday.
They will not be allowed to depart and will be referred to the Bureau of Immigration’s intelligence and legal divisions for investigation if they are encountered at an airport, according to Immigration Commissioner Jaime Morente.
“We have placed them on our alert list to prevent them from leaving the country and ensure their presence while they are undergoing criminal and administrative investigation for their alleged offenses,” Morente said.
The two were nabbed in a raid at an unregistered makeshift hospital and pharmacy inside the Fontana Leisure Park, but were subsequently released without any charges filed against them.
The Chinese nationals had work visas, but officials have yet to verify if these match their employment at the clinic, according to Col. Amante Daro, chief of Central Luzon Police’s Criminal Investigation and Detection Group.
The immigration bureau is also locating 4 Chinese COVID-19 patients who supposedly underwent treatment at the clinic prior to the raid, Morente said.
It is investigating as well the makeshift Chinese medical facility in Makati City that authorities discovered Tuesday and whether the two are linked, he added.
The Chinese nationals will only be deported after their cases are resolved or after they have served their sentences if convicted, Morente said./Stacy Ang
