Manila health officer faces abortion raps
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By Tina Santos
Inquirer
MANILA, Philippines – The National Bureau of Investigation has filed criminal charges against a woman doctor working for the Manila City Hall health department after she was accused of performing abortions.
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Teresita Ventura, 64, was arrested over the weekend in an entrapment operation. She was charged with violation of Article 259 (abortion practiced by a physician) and Article 212 (corruption of public officials) of the Revised Penal Code at the city prosecutor’s office.
Her husband, Manuel, was also arrested after he allegedly offered a P100,000 bribe to an NBI agent in exchange for the release of his wife. He was charged with corruption of public officials.
Lawyer Ricardo Diaz, chief of the NBI Criminal Investigation Division, said they carried out the operation against Ventura after they received information that she was performing abortions in her house in Sampaloc.
Diaz said one of their “assets” posed as a pregnant woman and approached Ventura who agreed to perform an abortion on her for P10,000.
Ventura denied the allegation, saying she was only helping women who had come to her after taking abortion pills.
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