Former President Benigno Aquino III and former Budget chief Florencio Abad should have been included in the criminal charges to be lodged by the Department of Justice over the Dengvaxia mess, a senator said on Saturday.
“Quite frankly, I am a bit disappointed because I figured they should have studied closely the involvement of President Aquino, Abad and company because they revisited the case,” said Senator Richard Gordon in a radio interview.
Gordon, who chairs the Senate Blue Ribbon committee that looked into the controversy, was referring to a DOJ resolution finding probable cause to indict former Health Secretary Janette Garin and several others for reckless imprudence resulting in homicide over the deaths of eight kids allegedly due to the vaccine.
“If you look at our investigation, you will see that the procurement of Dengvaxia is hastened whenever President Aquino is present,” he said.
Gordon noted that following Aquino’s meeting with officials of Dengvaxia distributor Sanofi in Paris, the Special Allotment Release Order for the vaccines were immediately released.
“How can you explain that the President met with a drug dealer from Sanofi three times? And if you take into account the time it took for Senfori to dialog with government, that was really fast!” the senator said.
In its resolution, the Justice department said state prosecutors found Garin and the other respondents “exhibited ‘inexcusable lack of precaution and foresight’ when they facilitated, with undue haste, “the registration and purchase of Dengvaxia’ and used the vaccine in implementing a school-based dengue mass immunization program.”
Malacañang, for its part, appealed to all stakeholders, including the public, to stop politicizing the Dengvaxia controversy as it has already affected the country’s health programs.
“We wish everyone would finally stop politicizing the issue in the court of public opinion, noting that such exercise has only caused an unnecessary fear on the part of parents for good and creditworthy health programs of the government to the detriment of innocent children,” Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo said.
“As for the defendants, they should welcome this latest development as an opportunity to clear their names and raise whatever defense they have in relation to the matter before a court of law,” the Palace official said.
According to the DOJ, Garin and the other respondents “have exhibited inexcusable lack of precaution and foresight when they facilitated with undue haste, the registration and purchase of Dengvaxia and used the vaccine in implementing a school-based dengue mass immunization program.”
The DOJ added that Garin and the others “totally disregarded the identified risks and adverse effects of the vaccine.”