Report tags Aquino, others in Dengvaxia ‘tragedy’

By Camille A. Aguinaldo
A DRAFT Senate report on the Dengvaxia controversy tagged former president Benigno S.C. Aquino III, former health secretary Janette P. Loreto-Garin, and former budget secretary Florencio B. Abad as “primary conspirators” who should be held criminally liable for implementing the P3.5-billion anti-dengue vaccination program.
“Aquino, Garin, Abad, and other officials are primary conspirators and must be held criminally liable… and must be prosecuted for all the tragedy, damage, and possible deaths resulting from the Dengvaxia mass vaccination program,” Senator Richard J. Gordon said at Wednesday’s Kapihan sa Senado forum, citing the draft report by the Senate blue-ribbon committee which he heads.
The Senate panel recommended the filing of charges against Messrs. Aquino and Abad, Ms. Garin as well as Philippine Children’s Medical Center (PCMC) executive director Julius A. Lecciones for violating the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act and the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees.
In a statement, Ms. Garin said the draft report, which she described as “full of inaccuracies and half truths,” was merely the personal opinion of Mr. Gordon.
“The report is one-sided because he has prejudged the case from the very beginning based on the inputs of vested interest parties who want to control the DoH,” she said.
“My conscience is clear and I am ready to answer any charge that will be filed in the proper forum,” she added.
Mr. Abad, who was also sought for comment, replied in a text message: “I haven’t seen the Committee Report, but as far as I’m concerned there’s absolutely no basis for the recommendation to file graft charges.”
Mr. Aquino has not responded to requests for comment as of this reporting.
For his part, presidential spokesperson Harry L. Roque, Jr. said Malacañang is awaiting the findings of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) on the issue.
The draft report also called for civil and criminal charges against French pharmaceutical company Sanofi Pasteur for having sold “a defective product” which endangered Filipino children.
Aside from the aforementioned ex-officials, several former and incumbent DoH officials involved in the vaccine procurement were also held liable, including former FDA chiefs Kenneth Hartigan-Go and Lourdes Santiago, FDA directors Melody Zamudio and Joyce Ducusin, and Mario Baquilod of DoH’s Disease Prevention and Control Bureau.
Meanwhile, Mr. Gordon cleared former health secretary Paulyn Jean B. Rosell-Ubial of any liability despite expanding the immunization program to Cebu, saying that she was not involved in the vaccine procurement back in 2016.
He said the draft report would be signed by members of the committee and later presented to the plenary once Congress resumes session in May.
Top officials of the previous administration committed technical malversation for funding the Dengvaxia procurement without Congress appropriations, according to the draft report.
AQUINO’S ‘GREATEST SIN’
It concluded that Mr. Aquino was guilty of misfeasance, malfeasance, nonfeasance for approving the mass immunization program while deliberately refusing to heed warnings about the vaccine use.
Mr. Aquino’s appointment of Ms. Garin, who came from a political family, as Secretary of the Department of Health (DoH) in 2015 was also questioned.
“This appointment, an act of patronage politics, bad as it already was, was worsened by enfeebling agencies in the DOH that led to regulatory capture,” it stated.
Mr. Aquino also committed “grave human rights abuse” for failing to inform parents about the possible dangers of the vaccine, the draft report added.
“All these acts constitute malfeasance, misfeasance, and nonfeasance. All in the name of politics,” Mr. Gordon said, quoting the report.
“He placed premium on political gain or even greed over the lives of innocent children. His greatest sin is simply not caring. As supposed father of the nation, he should have done better. By his acts, he violated ethics, did no homework, and did not exercise the extraordinary diligence of a good father of a nation,” he added.
The panel then urged government to help victims of the vaccine initiate a class suit against Dengvaxia manufacturer Sanofi Pasteur.
It also called for passing laws that would separate FDA and the Formulary Executive Council from the DoH; require pharmaceutical companies to publicly disclose its sponsorships to health professionals; and create an agency within DoH similar to the United States’ Center for Disease Control.
It also urged the Department of Justice (DoJ) and the Ombudsman to collaborate and take “judicial notice” on the legislative inquiries and asked DoH to overhaul the agency and remove “bad eggs” linked to the controversy.