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House panels want to sue Aquino, others over Dengvaxia mess
FILE: DENGVAXIA FIASCO. Former President Benigno Aquino III answers a question during a press conference for the investigation of election offense complaints linked to the dengue vaccine program held at the Commission on Elections (Comelec) in Intramuros, Manila City on Thursday (March 15, 2018).
Also in the photo is former Health Secretary Janette Garin. (PNA photo by Joey Razon)
Two House committees on Wednesday, February 6, want to slap former President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III and several of his ex-Cabinet officials with criminal and administrative charges over the government’s controversial dengue vaccination program.
Voting 14-4, the House Committees on Good Government and Public Accountability and Health approved their committee report, recommending the filing of graft, technical malversation and grave misconduct against Aquino, former Health Secretary Janette Garin, and former Budget Secretary Florencio Abad.
The joint committee also recommended the filing of graft complaints against Dr. Maria Joyce Ducusin, Dr. Rosalind Vianzon, Dr. Mario Baguilod, Dr. Julius Lecciones, Dr. Estrella Paje-Villar, Dr. Kenneth Hartigan-Go, Dr. Lyndon Lee Suy, and members of the Philippine Children’s Medical Center (PCMC) Bids and Awards Committee.
In their report, the lawmakers said there was “collusion” among these public officials “to ensure that a large quantity of Dengvaxia vaccines would be purchased by the government” for grade school students in public schools in Metro Manila, Central Luzon, and Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, and Quezon).
“This was done even though the safety and efficacy of Dengvaxia had not been clearly established.
These officials provided shortcuts in the process to favor Sanofi Pasteur, the manufacturer of a commercially available dengue vaccine,” it read.
“These officials may therefore be held liable for conspiring and confederating with one another for the purpose of ‘giving any private party any unwarranted benefits, advantage or preference in the discharge of his official administrative or judicial functions through manifest partiality, evident bad faith or gross inexcusable negligence,’ under Section 3(e) of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act,” it added.
The joint House panel voted 14-4 on the joint report. The lawmakers who said no were Iloilo 1st District Representative Oscar “Richard” Garin, Dinagat Islands Representative Kaka Bag-ao, Camarines Sur 3rd District Representative Gabriel Bordado, Jr., and Quezon City 6th District Representative Jose Christopher Belmonte.
The government launched the vaccination program in April 2016. It was suspended by the Department of Health (DOH) in December 2017 after Sanofi said the Dengvaxia can pose health risks if administered to people who had not been infected with dengue.
Several cases have been filed against Aquino, Garin, and Abad in connection with the immunization program.
In May 2018, charges of plunder, malversation of public funds, and graft were filed against the three former government officials before the Office of the Ombudsman.
Just last month, the Public Attorney’s Office (PAO) filed its 31st complaint against Garin and 38 others over the death of a doctor allegedly due to the vaccine.
