The Quezon City Regional Trial Court on Monday junked the 17 counts of estafa through falsification of public documents charges filed against the owner and former employees of WellMed Dialysis Center in connection with alleged ghost claims to the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. over a technicality.
“These cases are dismissed for lack of jurisdiction over the offenses charged, without prejudice to refiling before the Metropolitan Trial Court,” the Aug. 5 resolution read.
Branch 219 Judge Janet Abergos-Samar, however, clarified the charges have not been dismissed.
She said an estafa case is punishable by imprisonment of two months and one day to six months, while falsification of public documents carries a maximum jail term of two years, four months and one day to six years.
She said the cases should be filed with a metropolitan trial court only.
She said the amounts involved that WellMed Dialysis Center owner Bryan Sy supposedly defrauded only ranged from P5,200 to P39,000.
“The court emphasizes that the dismissal of these cases has nothing to do with the guilt or innocence of the accused,” the judge’s decision read.
On June 14, the Department of Justice found probable cause to indict Sy, and whistleblowers Edwin Roberto and Leizel Aileen de Leon for falsification of public documents by “counterfeiting or imitating signatures and making untruthful statements” to claim benefits for dead patients and those who had not fully completed the center’s annual dialysis sessions.
Rowell Ilagan, Sy’s lawyer, welcomed the court’s resolution, saying the case dismissal could only prove the crime was not a grave felony.
Meanwhile, a Palace spokesman said President Rodrigo Duterte will wait for the report of Health Secretary Francisco Duque III on the reported over-procurement and poor distribution of medicine by the Department of Health, resulting in the waste of millions of pesos in government funds.
The Commission on Audit had previously flagged the DOH for P18.449 billion worth of medicine purchased from 2015 to 2018 which have yet to be distributed to government hospitals.
The audit body also said P294.767 million worth of drugs which remain in the DOH warehouses were found to be nearing expiration as early as January 2019, while P30.353 million worth of medicine were found to have already expired.
Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra also said he will look into the audit report to determine if there is a basis for a full-blown investigation.