NOTE: THIS STORY WAS FIRST PUBLISHED IN THE BOHOL CHRONICLE’S SUNDAY PRINT EDITION.
The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) busted a syndicate behind the issuance of fake RT-PCR test results which are sold to incoming passengers in Bohol.
Former NBI Director Virgilio “Dodong” Mendez, now mayor of San Miguel town, alerted NBI agents in Cebu to arrest people behind the syndicate after fake RT-PCR results were found brought by some passengers who get stopped at the ports of entry.
A day after Mendez sounded the alarm, the regional NBI offices in Cebu collared two suspects identified as Rogelio Sumalinog Nebres alias Jay-Ar of brgy San Roque, Cebu City and Rakim Sultan Busara of V. Rama, Cebu City.
Nebres was arrested at the vicinity of Pier I Port of Cebu while Busara was nabbed at his shop located across Oriente Bldg along Colon Street.
The two were booked for estafa through falsification of public documents penalized under Art 315 and Art 171 otherwise known as the cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012.
The arrest of the suspects came after the NBI coordinated with Commissioner Mike Lopez of the Cebu Port Authority.
A passenger who disembarked from a vessel at the Tagbilaran port was stopped by port police after presenting fake RT-PCR lab results. Two residents of San Miguel town were also arrested as they were victims of the syndicate selling fake PCR results at P2,000.
Until today, a negative RT-PCR test result is a prerequisite to incoming passengers to Bohol.