MANILA, Philippines—The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) has cleared of any liability the doctor who performed cosmetic surgery on slain robbery gang leader Alvin Flores as it asked the Department of Health (DOH) to ensure the protection of medical workers against criminals who wanted to hide their true identities.
Ruel Lasala, NBI deputy director for intelligence services (DDIS), said no charges would be filed against Dr. Dominador Pedracio, a licensed cosmetic surgeon and owner of Clinica de Antipolo, for the operation he conducted to alter Flores’ features.
Lasala explained that when Flores contracted Pedracio’s services, he used another name, (John Carlo Cruz Chavez), making it impossible for the doctor to know his true identity.
He added that Pedracio also could not be held liable because when he operated on Flores on Sept. 30, he was unaware that the latter was a wanted man.
Lasala, meanwhile, said that other cosmetic surgeons could be faced with a similar dilemma unless the DOH take steps to protect them against criminals hiding from the law.
“The surgeons, doctors or medical staff became instruments of these unscrupulous hardened criminals to alter their faces and hide their identities as part of their efforts to avoid being caught by law enforcers. These medical practitioners are not aware that one of their patients is a criminal because they [use] different names to avoid detection,” he said.
Pedracio earlier told the NBI that he did not know that his patient was the leader of a notorious robbery gang which was responsible for several heists, including the Oct. 18 robbery on the Rolex store at Greenbelt 5 mall in Makati City.
The doctor said that Flores had identified himself as Chavez, a closet homosexual, and had told him that he wanted to have his features altered so that he would look more feminine.
He added that a three-man team of surgeons operated on Flores who underwent a nose lift, a temporal uplift and eyelid surgery. Flores was killed in an encounter with NBI agents in Cebu City on Oct. 29.
