Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Police General Archie Francisco Gamboa said the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) would probe the death of police doctor Police Captain Casey Gutierrez.
At a press briefing on Monday, Gamboa stressed that the investigation should also include PNP’s service providers as well as the Office of Civil Defense.
“I hope NBI if they will acquire jurisdiction over the case, I hope they will include everything… from the service provider, from OCD hanggang sa PNP… isali nila lahat [all of them should be included],” Gamboa said.
“Both PICC and Ultra, lahat doon ay actually being managed by OCD. So it’s OCD who will put in there service providers. Sila’ yung may power to procure kung sino ‘yung service providers na ilagay nila,” he added.
(OCD is managing both PICC and Ultra, all of them. So it’s OCD who will put in there service providers. They have the power to procure which their service providers would be.)
Gamboa said he already ordered PNP deputy chief for administration Police Lieutenant General Camilo Pancratius Cascolan to look into the incident.
“Just this morning, I gave a directive to General Cascolan to investigate the administrative flow of this quarantine areas,” Gamboa said.
Also read: Police doctor dies after being sprayed with bleach
He noted that the probe was being carried out not just to hold those negligent responsible but also to determine the health and safety protocols the PNP should improve in managing facilities.
On May 30, after PNP doctor Casey Gutierrez died after he underwent “decontamination after attending to a patient” and accidentally inhaled bleach, which was used as a disinfectant at the PhilSports Arena in Pasig, which was converted into a quarantine facility for infected patients on May 24.
The source said Gutierrez was “undergoing decontamination after attending to a patient” when suddenly he had difficulty breathing.
He was rushed to the NP General Hospital at Camp Crame for initial medical treatment but was transferred to the Lung Center of the Philippines for treatment. The doctor died five days later.
Two more PNP medical officer became sick after undergoing decontamination at around 3 p.m. at PhilSports Arena on June 1.