Three years after his term ended, former President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III continues to be hounded by the controversy surrounding the anti-dengue vaccine Dengvaxia.
A joint committee in the Philippine House of Representatives today recommended the filing of administrative and criminal charges against Aquino, former Department of Budget and Management Secretary Butch Abad, and former Department of Health (DOH) Secretary Janette Garin in connection with the use of the allegedly fatal dengue vaccine Dengvaxia.
These follow existing charges filed against Aquino, Abad, and Garin by the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC) and the Vanguards of the Philippine Constitution, Inc. (VCPI) at the Department of Justice in connection with the same controversy. Former Technical Education and Skills Development Authority Augusto Syjuco Jr. also sued Aquino and Garin for mass murder and plunder at the Office of the Ombudsman in December 2017.
GMA News reported that the House Committees on Good Government and Public Accountability and Health said that charges of graft, technical malversation, and civil charges should be filed against Aquino, Abad, and Garin.
The three violated Section 3(e) of Republic Act No. 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act for allegedly “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.”
They allegedly purchased large quantities of Dengvaxia despite the lack of certainty that it was safe and effective.
Dengvaxia was included in the government’s dengue vaccination program which was launched in 2016 shortly before Aquino’s term ended, ABS-CBN News reported. Some 800,000 school children were immunized in the government’s program.
In November 2017, Sanofi Pasteur, the manufacturer of Dengvaxia, issued an advisory to say that the vaccine posed a risk for patients who have not been infected by the dengue virus before immunization. However, it also said that there were no confirmed deaths caused by the vaccine, ABS-CBN reported.
Sanofi’s advisory led Public Attorney’s Office (PAO) chief Persida Acosta to launch an investigation into the deaths of children who were immunized with Dengvaxia.
Acosta said that the PAO has autopsied the bodies of 113 alleged victims but alleged that total number could reach as high as 600.
However, current DOH Secretary Francisco Duque III said there was no established link between Dengvaxia and the death of the supposed victims. Duque has said Acosta’s baseless accusations against immunization have led to the rise of measles cases, reported ABS-CBN News.
According to The Philippine Daily Inquirer, Congress said that the following people may also be held liable for graft: Dr. Maria Joyce Ducusin, Dr. Rosalind Vianzon, Dr. Mario Baquilod, Dr. Estrella Paje-Villar, members of the Philippine Children’s Medical Center (PCMC) Bids and Awards Committee, PCMC’s Executive Director Dr. Julius Lecciones, Dr. Kenneth Hartigan-Go, and Dr. Lyndon Lee Suy.
The committee also recommended the PCMC to file civil charges against Zuellig Pharma Corporation, the distributor of Dengvaxia. According to lawmakers, the PCMC should file the case “for the recovery of the amount paid by PCMC to Zuellig Pharma Corporation for the procurement of the Dengvaxia vaccine, less whatever amount or amounts which may have already been refunded.”
