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| Former President Benigno Aquino III and his Health Secretary Janette Garin via CNNPH |
Metro Manila (December 15) — Former President Benigno Aquino III and his Health Secretary Janette Garin on Friday were slapped with criminal complaint over their controversial national dengue vaccine program.
Former Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) Chief Augusto Syjuco filed a mass murder complaint resulting to reckless imprudence and plunder against Aquino and Garin before the Ombudsman.
Aquino, during the Senate joint hearing on the Dengvaxia vaccine controversy, defended his administration's decision to buy P3.5 billion-worth of vaccines from French pharmaceutical company Sanofi Pasteur. Senators questioned the seemingly hasty procurement.
Aquino defended the Dengvaxia procurement process: If the government failed to immediately set aside funds, the vaccine program would face delay amid growing concerns over the spread of the mosquito-borne virus.
"If we do not do this at this point in time, you are practically saying that the first implementation of this vaccine will be in 2017 because it will be for the next budget cycle which will be under the new administration," he said on Thursday.
He added no questions were raised when the dengue vaccine was bought in 2016.
"Bago nagdesisyon ang gobyerno sa Dengvaxia, habang nagdedesisyon, pagkatapos magdesisyon, at hanggang ngayon, walang nagparating sa akin ng pagtutol sa bakuna," he said on Thursday.
Sanofi Pasteur said no deaths were caused by its vaccine.
The national dengue vaccine program began a month before the presidential elections in May.
The pharmaceutical giant in November 2017 revealed Dengvaxia may lead to more severe forms of dengue in those not infected by the virus before.
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