Aquino seeks junking of Dengvaxia-related raps for lack of merit

FILE: Former president Benigno Noynoy Aquino III asked the Department of Justice (DOJ) to junk criminal complaint lodged against him over the P3.5-billion dengue immunization program for lack of merit. (Photo: Noynoy Aquino/Facebook)

Former president Benigno Noynoy Aquino III asked the Department of Justice (DOJ) to junk criminal complaint lodged against him over the P3.5-billion dengue immunization program for lack of merit.

Aquino on Monday, June 4, attended the preliminary investigation into the complaint filed by Philippine Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC) Commissioner and Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC) lawyer Manuelito Luna and Eligio Mallari of the Vanguard of the Philippine Constitution, Inc. (VPCI) last February.

Aquino and his co-respondents are accused of violating Section 3 of Republic Act (RA) No. 3019 (Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act), Article 22 (Technical Malversation of the Revised Penal Code; Section 65 of RA 9184 (Government Procurement, Reform Act), and Article 365 (Criminal Negligence) of the Revised Penal Code.

In his 27-page counter affidavit, Aquino asked the DOJ to dismiss these charges for lack of merit, saying that the complainants failed to substantiate the charges they filed.

According to Aquino, there is no evidence to prove that the deaths were caused by Dengvaxia vaccines.

“A fact-finding investigation relative to the matter is still ongoing, and medical experts have, in fact, categorically declared that to date, there has not been any definitive finding that the deaths were directly caused by the administration of Dengvaxia vaccine,” he said.

He also maintained that there was no anomaly in the vaccination program that his administration launched in 2016.

“The procurement process was aboveboard and within the timelines prescribed by R.A. 9184, as determined by the DOH [Department of Health] report,” Aquino explained.

“Finally, the dengue vaccine passed all required clinical trials, was found to be safe and effective and there were no reported adverse or ill-effects at the time of its approval, launch and implementation,” he added.

Aside from Aquino, former Health Secretary Janette Garin and former Budget chief Florencio Abad, who were also named as respondents to the complaint, appeared before the DOJ panel of prosecutors and submitted their respective counter-affidavits to the criminal charges.

Senior Assistant State Prosecutor Rossane Baluag, chairman of the DOJ panel, set the next hearing on June 22 for submission of reply by the VACC and VPCI to the counter-affidavits.

The multi-billion immunization program aimed to provide free vaccines to public school students in places with high incidences of Dengue. However, this project was called off last year following concerns over the risks posed by Dengvaxia to those who had not had the infection.