MANILA: The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) has charged two female suspects for offering “therapy” services for children with special needs without proper government licenses.
In a statement on Friday, the NBI said Jogie Enal and Analiza Lopez were charged before the Quezon Provincial Prosecutors’ Office after they were arrested on Dec. 19 by members of the NBI Lucena District Office (NBI-LUCDO) in an entrapment in Lucban town.
They were charged for violation of Republic Act 11241 or the Philippine Occupational Therapy Law of 2018.
One of the victims filed the complaint before the NBI against the Angel Hands Intervention Center (Angel Hands), owned by Enal, which offered its services on its Facebook page.
The services included occupational therapy, speech therapy and applied behavioral analysis therapy to children who are suffering from down syndrome, autism, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, learning disability, dyslexia and other special conditions.
The complainant said he was enticed to
seek the firm’s help for his three-year-old son.
Enal represented herself as an occupational therapist and Lopez as the assistant teacher/caregiver of Angel Hands.
She then demanded PHP1,000 as advance payment for the “assessment of his child and an additional PHP3,800 for the three-month therapy” to be paid before the therapy begins.
The complainant eventually discovered that Enal was not a legitimate occupational therapist and that she had already victimized unsuspecting parents of children with autism.
Verification made by NBI-LUCDO with the Professional Regulation Commission revealed that Enal is not a licensed therapist.
Source: Philippines News Agency
