The National Bureau of Investigation on Friday said their agents have arrested a Chinese national in Lapu-Lapu City for illegal practice of medicine and selling of pharmaceutical products without registration or authority from the Food and Drug Administration.
NBI Officer-In-Charge Eric B. Distor identified the suspect as Ke Liangpeng.
Ke has been presented for Inquest proceedings before the Lapu-Lapu City Prosecutor’s Office for violation of Food, Drugs and Cosmetics Act under R.A. 3720 as amended by R.A. 9711 defined under Section 10 and penalized under Section 11 for Selling Unregistered Pharmaceutical Products and violation of Philippine Pharmacy Act under R.A. 5921 as amended by R.A. 10918 for operating the establishment as retail outlet of pharmaceutical products to the public without authority from FDA.
Another case for violation of the Medical Act under R.A. 2382, as amended by R.A. 4224 will be filed against Ke once a Certification from the Professional Regulations Commission shall have been obtained confirming that subject Ke has no license to practice.
Distor said the joint operation was conducted on July 24, 2020 by operatives of the NBI assigned at the Office of the Deputy Director for Regional Operations Service (ODDROS), NBI-Central Visayas Regional Office – 7 (CEVRO-7) and Food and Drug Administration Visayas Cluster Office in full coordination with the Lapu-Lapu City Police and the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group and Lapu-Lapu City Police Field Office.
Distor said that a Certification issued by Director Jesusa Joyce Cunanan, Chief for Drug Regulation and Research of FDA based in Manila, states that the establishment/premises nor its proprietors have no authority or license to sell and dispense pharmaceutical products and neither its product sold to the public at large.
For his part, Deputy Director for Regional Operations, Atty. Antonio Pagatpat, said that on this basis, a buy-bust operation was conducted in Teakwood Subdivision, Barangay Soong, Lapu-Lapu City resulting in the seizure of several boxes of unregistered, mislabeled and unbranded pharmaceutical products mostly labelled with Chinese characters valued by the FDA at P10,000,000.00. Pagatpat said the operation also resulted in the arrest of Ke, who was caught “en flagrante delicto” receiving the marked money in exchange for the antibiotic drug he prescribed to an NBI poseur-buyer, the prescribed drug of which was previously labelled as unregistered by the FDA.
Distor said the operation also led to the discovery of several hospital beds catering to ill patients, mostly Chinese, seeking treatment, cure and medications from KE and his cohorts.
He added that a female Chinese, a resident of Sunberry Subdivision identified only as Soong, was found lying in one of the hospital beds with intravenous device linked to her arm.
Ke claimed that he is a Medical Doctor in China but could not produce authorization nor special permit for him to legally practice medicine in the Philippines. He could not also present any document to show the FDA registration of the pharmaceutical products found at his premises.