By Minde Nyl R. Dela Cruz

FORMER President Benigno S.C. Aquino III and other former Cabinet officials of his administration face another complaint over the Dengvaxia controversy after the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC), Vanguard of the Philippine Constitution, Inc. (VPCI), and former Department of Health (DoH) consultant Francisco S. Cruz filed a joint complaint-affidavit on Monday, Feb. 12, before the Department of Justice (DoJ).

Lawyers Manuelito R. Luna and Eligio P. Mallari of VACC and VPCI, respectively, and Mr. Cruz accused Mr. Aquino of graft, technical malversation, and criminal negligence for the mass immunization program implemented during his administration.

Other respondents include former budget secretary Florencio B. Abad, former health secretary Janette L. Garin, Philippine Children’s Medical Center (PCMC) director Julius Lecciones, former and incumbent officials of the DoH, and the directors and officers of Zuellig Pharma and Sanofi Pasteur.

The complainants said Messrs. Aquino, Abad, Lecciones, Ms. Garin, and other DoH officials exerted “undue pressure” on the members of the procuring entity to favor Zuellig and Sanofi.

The complainants added that the respondents should have known by phase III of the clinical trials “that the efficacy as well as safety of the subject vaccine could not as yet be determined with pinpoint accuracy; hence, they should have desisted from proceeding to implement the Dengue Immunization Program of the DOH on a mass scale.”

“Bluntly, the respondents had failed to comply with WHO (World Health Organization) standards on the licensing and post-licensing monitoring of Dengvaxia as well as failed to promptly disclose any adverse events associated with the mass vaccination, contrary to law and existing regulations,” the complaint further read.

Messrs. Luna, Mallari, and Cruz noted in their complaint that the doses of Dengvaxia, worth P3.5 million, “has no appropriation cover.”

The complainants also said Mr. Aquino and Ms. Garin’s “efforts to further the candidacy of Liberal Party presidential bet [Manuel A. Roxas II]” and Sanofi’s “undue interest over the implementation of the Dengue Immunization Program of the DOH” were at the “expense of innocent children.”

The complainants based their affidavit on the testimonies of resource persons invited by the House committees on health and on good government and the Senate blue-ribbon Committee.

Sought for comment, Mr. Abad said he has not yet seen the complaint but added that “if the issues relate to procurement and proper observance of accounting and budgetary rules, we are confident that insofar as the role played by the DBM, everything was aboveboard and according to rules and laws.”

For her part, Ms. Garin said she is “ready to face any of the charges because my conscience is clear.”

“It’s better to transfer the venue of the debate in court and stop the hysteria being generated by misleading questions and conclusions. Public health has been threatened and our people do not deserve this. The proper forum can delineate facts, scrutinize experts and allow the truth to prevail,” Ms. Garin added.

The mass immunization program, administered to 830,000 nine- to 11-year-olds and meant to protect against dengue, was stopped December last year after Sanofi disclosed that the vaccine may yield more symptoms for inoculated patients who have not had dengue before.

The University of the Philippines-Philippine General Hospital (UP-PGH) has identified 29 deaths which may be linked to Dengvaxia and found that three out of 14 bodies initially autopsied died because of dengue.

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