The Department of Justice has been asked to prosecute two more former officials for their alleged complicity in the deaths of schoolchildren inoculated with the controversial Dengvaxia vaccine.
Drs. Raymundo Lo and Sonia Gonzales, former officials at the state-owned Philippine Children’s Medical Center in Quezon City, were charged with reckless imprudence resulting in homicide and violations of the Anti-Torture Act.
During the continuation of the preliminary hearing on Monday, the Public Attorney’s Office filed a motion to include Lo and Gonzales as respondents in the second batch of complaints filed by families of eight students who died after getting the dengue immunization vaccine.
The complainants alleged that the two former PCMC officials were among the “known personalities who facilitated the purchase of Dengvaxia vaccine” as found during the recent hearing in the inquiry of the House of Representatives on the Dengvaxia controversy.
According to them, Lo and Gonzalez “actively participated in the purchase of Dengvaxia and/or spearheaded the implementation of the anti-dengue mass vaccination program of the Dh despite the danger that Dengvaxia poses to the target population/recipients.”
They stressed that while Lo did not sign the purchase request himself, he admitted during the congressional hearing that he authorized the order.
Lo was the deputy executive director for professional services of PCMC who issued the purchase request to buy the P3.5-billion vaccines through Gonzales.
Because of this, the complainants said the two former PCMC officials—just like the other respondents led by former Health Secretary Janette Garin—“displayed grave recklessness, utter bad faith, lack of foresight, lack of skill, want of care, gross neglect and deliberate, arbitrary and even malicious disregard of the safety and lives of thousands of Filipino children,” read the 15-page motion.
Lo earlier questioned the findings of the PAO forensic team that were used as basis in filing the criminal charges against Garin and others.
He claimed it was not scientifically established that the deaths of the victims were directly caused by Dengvaxia.
Lo accused the PAO forensic team led by Dr. Erwin Erfe of “false conclusion” in linking the deaths to Dengvaxia.
Garin submitted the affidavit of Lo — an expert pathologist — to the DoJ for consideration in the prelimnary investigation on the first batch of cases involving nine schoolchildren, but investigating prosecutors rejected the affidavit for having been filed late since they already concluded the hearings at that time.
The DoJ, through a panel chaired by Assistant State Prosecutor Maria Emilia Victorio, has already completed preliminary investigation on the first batch of cases involving deaths of nine schoolchildren -Aejay Bautista, Angelica Pestilos, Lenard Baldonado, Zandro Colite, Abbie Hedia, Jansyn Bataan, Mark Axel Ebonia, Rey Justin Almagno and Alexander Jaime.
A separate panel chaired by Senior Assistant State Prosecutor Susan Dacanay also concluded the preliminary investigation on the second batch of cases involving eight victims — Clarissa Alcantara, Christine Mae De Guzman, Erico Leabres, Roshaine Cariño, Naomi Nimura, John Paul Rafael, Michael Tablate and Christine Joy Asuncion.
The PAO also filed recently a third batch of cases involving 10 victims — Wiljen Alcontin, Eleazar Brigoli Jr., Trishanne Asona, EJ Christian Apa, Joaniña Cortes, Gladimeir Juevesano, Kianah Mae Racuya, Adeline Castroverde, Jessica Viaros and Senior Police Officer 2 Vicente Arugay.