Daang Matuwid—the straight path—was the catch phrase of the previous administration of Benigno Aquino III.
It was supposed to eschew all the excesses of its immediate predecessor. Officials prided themselves on transparency, accountability, and participation in governance.
But there were many instances that indicated “Daang Matuwid” was nothing more than a slogan, and that in fact the administration was not different at all from the previous ones it derided.
There was Mamasapano, the Disbursement Acceleration Program, the Metro Rail Transit 3, and the persecution of those who sinned by associating with the incumbent’s political foes.
Nothing jars us more, however, than the recent discovery that the lives of 733,000 schoolchildren were put at risk because of their exposure to an immunization program against deadly dengue.
It turns out the consequences could be deadlier.
Sanofi Pasteur, the manufacturer of the Dengvaxia, now says that the drug may carry adverse effects on those who have not had history of the disease whatsoever.
The current Health Secretary, Francisco Duque, says former President Aquino and then-Health secretary Janette Garin could have been well-meaning when they decided to negotiate the deal with the French company.
But why would Garin, for instance, deny meeting the Sanofi officials in Paris sometime in 2015 if she did not believe something ought to be kept from the public eye?
Unfortunately for Garin, ABS-CBN obtained a copy of a report signed by the Philippine Ambassador to France to the Department of Foreign Affairs, signed by Ambassador Theresa Lazaro, that she indeed met with Sanofi officials and talked lengthily about introducing the drug to the Philippine market by creating a demand for it.
There is certainly a lot of explaining to do.
Now the government, after halting the program, is demanding that Sanofi fully refund the P3.5 billion it paid for the vaccines and cover the treatment of children put at risk by the drug. There will also be a task force to manage concerns arising from the vaccines already administered.
It’s a mess, all right, and even more so because it involves school children whose parents only wanted them to be safe from a life-threatening disease.
Whether it is a case of stupid haste, or unintended consequences, or a desire to be perceived as caring for the poor or a downright malevolent scheme where somebody’s pockets got lined, what is certain is that there is nothing straight in this issue, and they have to answer for what they have done.