THE Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption and the Vanguard of the Philippine Constitution Inc. on Monday filed administrative charges against 13 incumbent officials of the Department of Health before the Office of the President for their participation in the anti-dengue vaccination program that is now under fire.
In a 13-page complaint, the VPCI and VACC named DOH Undersecretaries Carl Tanio, Gerard Bayugo, Lilibeth David, and Mario Villaverde, and Assistant Secretaries Lyndon Lee-Suy and Nestor Santiago.
Also facing complaints are DOH directors Laureano Cruz, Joyce Ducusin, Mar Wynn Bello, Leonila Gorgolon, Rio Magpantay, Ariel Valencia, and Julius Lecciones.
Nasser Marohomsalic, the VACC and VPCI’s legal counsel, said the DoH officials committed gross negligence and grave misconduct for “ill-advisedly, thoughtlessly, or imprudently” implementing the anti-dengue vaccine program.
The VACC and VPCI also sought the suspension of the 13 DoH officials pending investigation to prevent them from using their power to “destroy, hide or tamper with the evidence as well as intimidate potential witnesses against them.”
The complainants also questioned the speedy procurement of Dengvaxia vaccine, which may have breached the Government Procurement Reform Act.
Records show that the Dengue Immunization Program of the DoH covered three rounds which started in April, May and June 2016 and was supposed to end the same months in 2017.
The vaccine targeted all grade 4 students age nine and above in three sets of doses particularly in all public schools in Regions 3, 4 and the National Capital Region. A total of 830,000 children plus 30,000 more, including some members of the Philippine National Police received doses of Dengvaxia vaccine.
After the government bought P3.5 billion worth of Dengvaxia, its manufacturer Sanofi said new data showed that the vaccine could leave those vaccinated more susceptible to dengue if they had not been exposed to the virus before.
The VACC has earlier filed a complaint before the Commission on Elections against former President Benigno Aquino III, former Health secretary Janette Garin, former Budget secretary Florencio Abad, four former DoH officials, and 13 active DoH officials over the Dengvaxia case.
The VACC accused Aquino and other respondents of violating Section 261 of the Omnibus Election Code when they allowed the release of P3.5 billion in public funds for the procurement of Dengvaxia vaccine during the campaign period.
On Monday, the Palace rejected calls from health experts and doctors to stop conducting autopsies on children who died after being vaccinated with Dengvaxia.
In a press briefing, Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque said the government will continue to perform autopsies to determine the cause of the deaths of children who died due to severe dengue.
Former Health Secretary Esperanza Cabral and vaccine expert Lulu Bravo asked the Department of Justice to stop the Public Attorney’s Office from performing autopsies on affected children as these make “no sense” and were only subjecting the families to torture.
The group claimed the autopsies on these children should be done by competent forensic pathologists to determine what was the real cause of the deaths of children vaccinated with Dengvaxia.
However, PAO chief Persida Rueda Acosta rejected this call and received support from the Palace Monday.
“We are flatly rejecting the call to stop autopsies. We will perform autopsies as they are required, because we need to find the truth,” Roque said.
“Sanofi must be “dreaming if they think they are off the hook” after a panel composed of experts from the Philippine General Hospital said only three out of 14 deaths of children vaccinated with Dengvaxia were due to dengue,” he said.
Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II also said the autopsies would continue.
“I have no order for PAO to stop the autopsies,” Aguirre said in a text message.
Aguirre said he would like to hear the basis of the group of doctors led by former Health secretary Esperanza Cabral for questioning the credibility of results of forensic tests conducted by PAO on children who supposedly died after vaccination.
“I welcome the group of Secretary Cabral to give its written position to us why the autopsies should be stopped,” he added.
Cabral’s group, dubbed as Doctors for Public Welfare, urged the DoJ to stop the autopsies being conducted by PAO forensic team led by Dr. Erwin Erfe and “leave the matter of determining the cause of death to competent forensic pathologists.”
The group alleged that Dr. Erfe is not a qualified forensic pathologist and was actually “wrong in practically all of the 14” cases he examined, citing results of the forensic tests conducted by pathologists in University of the Philippines – Philippine General Hospital.
Cabral claimed that only one of the 14 deaths examined so far “might be causally associated with the vaccine.” But it was revealed in the House hearing yesterday that there were three cases of death in the 14 that were found to be caused by severe dengue after getting Dengvaxia vaccine—subject to further tests.
The group also lamented how the reported findings of PAO in the media have been causing public panic and discouraging parents from availing of other immunization programs.