The two whistleblowers in the “ghost dialysis” scam have been granted provisional admission to the Witness Protection Program (WPP) of the Department of Justice (DoJ), Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said Wednesday.
“They were provisionally admitted into the WPP, good for 90 days,” Guevarra told reporters.
“That’s pending preliminary investigation by the DoJ of the seven other respondents,” he explained.
Those provisionally placed under the WPP were former WellMed Dialysis Center employees Edwin Roberto and Liezel Aileen De Leon.
The secretary explained that their full acceptance to the WPP will be determined by the preliminary investigation being conducted by Senior Assistant State Prosecutor Anna Noreen Devanadera on the complaint filed by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) against seven WellMed officers and employees. They are Claro Sy; Therese Francesca Tan-Sy; Dr. John Ray Gonzales; Alvin Sy; Dick Ong; Dr. Porsha Natividad; and Dr. Joemie Soriano.
In its complaint, the NBI accused the seven respondents of estafa and falsification of public documents for making bogus claims with the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (Philhealth) using the names of already dead patients.
Meanwhile, Devanadera has already filed charges against WellMed owner Dr. Bryan Christopher Sy and the two whistleblowers before the Quezon City Regioinal Trial Court (RTC) for 17 counts of estafa through falsification of public documents in violation of the Revised Penal Code (RPC).
The charges were filed last June 17 after the they were presented for inquest last June 11 following their arrest by the NBI. (Jeffrey Damicog)