A QUEZON City (QC) court has dismissed for lack of jurisdiction the estafa charges against an officer of WellMed Dialysis and Laboratory Center Corp. and two whistle-blowers in connection with the “ghost dialysis” claims. In an Aug. 5 resolution, QC Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 219 Presiding Judge Janet Abergos-Samar said the dismissal of the 17 cases of WellMed owner and Vice-President Bryan Christopher W. Sy and whistle-blowers Edwin C. Roberto and Liezel Aileen S. De Leon “is without prejudice to re-filing” before a Metropolitan Trial Court (MTC). The RTC said the amounts allegedly defrauded from Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) ranged from P5,200 to P39,000, which can only be penalized with imprisonment of two months and one day to six months. A person accused of falsification of documents, meanwhile, can only be sentenced to imprisonment from two year, four months and one day to six years. Republic Act No. 129 provides that offenses punishable with imprisonment not exceeding six years should be under the first level courts, or the MTCs. The Department of Justice indicted the three as they were found to have “conspired in using falsified documents to collect payments from PhilHealth for alleged medical services to patients who were already dead.” Lawyer Rowell D. Ilagan, counsel of Mr. Sy, in a statement said the RTC’s decision is a “positive development” as it “reaffirms our position that the crime charged against Bryan Sy is not a grave felony.” On the other hand, former presidential spokesperson Harry L. Roque, Jr., legal counsel of the two whistle-blowers, said the dismissal of the complaint is alarming as it derails “efforts to cleanse PhilHealth preparatory to the implementation of the Universal Health Care Law…” — Vann Marlo M. Villegas

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR