Why not homicide? Concerned father looks after his child at the East Avenue Medical Center Dengvaxia Express lane. The House has recommended graft and technical malversation charges against former President Benigno Aquino, his Budget Secretary Florencio Abad and Health Secretary Janette Garin. AFP

Convinced of a collusion in the previous government, a House joint panel has recommended graft, technical malversation and grave misconduct charges against former President Benigno Aquino III and his key officials over the P3.5 billion Dengvaxia fiasco.

With a vote of 14-4, the joint House Committees on Health and Good Government and Public Accountability approved the report which named Aquino along with former Budget Secretary Florencio Abad, former Health Secretary Janette Garin and other officials as liable for their involvement in the procurement and implementation of the Dengvaxia vaccination program.

The report said a collusion was apparent among public officials to ensure that a large quantity of the vaccines would be purchased by the government for a mass immunization program to mainly school children in the National Capital Region (NCR) and Regions III and IV.

Malacañang, meanwhile, kept a hands-off policy on the House recommendation.

“We defer to the House of Representatives, belonging to a separate and co-equal branch of government, on its recommendation to file charges against officials of the previous administration and other private individuals over the government’s suspended dengue vaccination program,” presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo said in a statement.

The Palace official added the Executive branch will let the legal process, with the Department of Justice (DoJ) taking the lead, take its course and clamp down on those responsible to be held administratively, criminally and civilly liable.

“We reiterate the policy of the administration that whoever transgresses the law will have to account for it regardless of their social status and the political affiliation of the transgressor,” Panelo said.

Aquino and his fellow respondents, per the committee report, were found to be in violation of Section 3(e) of RA 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act by allegedly “conspiring and confederating with one another for the purpose of giving any private party any unwarranted benefits, advantage or preference in the discharge of his official administrative or judicial functions through manifest partiality, evident bad faith or gross inexcusable negligence.”

The joint panel also recommended the filing of graft charges against Dr. Maria Joyce Ducusin, Dr. Rosalind Vianzon, Dr. Mario Baquilod, Dr. Julius Lecciones, Dr. Estrella Paje-Villar, members of the Philippine Children’s Medical Center (PCMC) Bids and Awards Committee, Dr. Kenneth Hartigan-Go and Dr. Lyndon Lee Suy.

Noynoy Aquino (left) Garin (right) Unwarranted benefits

The report said Aquino and his officials “provided shortcuts” in the process to favor French multinational vaccine manufacturer Sanofi Pasteur.

“These officials may therefore be held liable for conspiring and confederating with one another for the purpose of ‘giving any private party any unwarranted benefits, advantage or preference in the discharge of his official administrative or judicial functions through manifest partiality, evident bad faith or gross inexcusable negligence,’” the committee report reads.

The panel held Aquino liable for approving the use of P3.5 billion from the 2015 Miscellaneous Personnel Benefits Fund (MPBF) savings for the purchase of the said vaccines.

On the other hand, Abad was responsible for requesting authority to use savings and augment allegedly deficient appropriations of various government agencies, as well as for the issuance of the P3.5-billion Special Allotment Release Order for the release of funds to procure the vaccines.

Garin was also held liable for including the dengue vaccine among those proposed to be procured from the savings despite the fact that a Certificate of Product Registration had not yet issued for the items and they were not yet included in the Philippine National Drug Formulary, which was required by Executive Order 49.

The former Health secretary was also responsible for requesting Aquino’s permission to use savings for the procurement of the vaccines, as well as for approving the procurement of dengue vaccine for the immunization program.

Along with the three officials, Drs. Maria Joyce Ducusin, Julius Lecciones and Kenneth Hartigan-Go and members of Philippine Children’s Medical Center Bids and Awards Committee are included in the persons who are recommended to be charged under Section 3(e) of Republic Act 3019.

Moreover, the panel recommended to charge Aquino, Abad, Garin and Lecciones with technical malversation after the procurement of Dengvaxia vaccines was not included in the 2015 General Appropriations Act (GAA).

The panel added that the dengue vaccine was not included in the DoH Expanded Immunization Program for 2015; thus, the Health department was not authorized to procure Dengvaxia in 2015.

“However, former President Aquino approved former Secretary Garin’s request for the use of the ‘savings’ for the acquisition of the dengue vaccine. The amount of P3,556,155,900.00 from the Fiscal Year 2015 MPBF savings was approved for the use in the acquisition of the dengue vaccine,” the committee report reads.

It also added that the Constitution does not allow the use of savings to fund procurements which have no appropriations under the GAA and may be punishable under Article 220 of the Revised Penal Code.

Moreover, the panel suggested administrative charges for grave misconduct even if some of the officials are not in the present government.

The House panel said the contract between PCMC and Zuellig was considered void, thus recommending the PCMC to file a civil action against the pharmaceutical company, Aquino, Abad, Garin and Lecciones for the recovery of the amount paid for the procurement of Dengvaxia.

They also recommended to the Anti-Money Laundering Council the investigation of the personalities involved in the procurement of the dengue vaccines and the deposit investments accounts, including related accounts.

On the other hand, the committee is still finishing its final committee report as several amendments were introduced during the deliberations.

Good Government and Public Accountability Committee chairman Xavier Jesus Romualdo said the amendments will be completed before the report is submitted to the plenary for approval.

He said they are doing the timeline of events on the Dengvaxia case to easily identify how the program was rolled out.

The committee will also consider Nueva Ecija Rep. Estrelita Suansing’s amendment which will highlight the liability of Sanofi Pasteur for not disclosing the health risks from vaccination if they have no dengue history.

Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Isagani Zarate’s amendment will be also included, which will also hold former Health Secretary Paulyn Ubial and other DoH officials liable after they expanded the vaccination program from the three regions initially covered.

NEWS | Criminal raps pushed vs. ex-PNOY et al. over dengvaxia mess

NEWS | Criminal raps pushed vs. ex-PNOY et al. over dengvaxia mess

Posted by PTV on Wednesday, 6 February 2019

All government vaccination programs have been hit hard by the “Dengvaxia scare” with the DoH recording a 40 percent drop in the number of children being vaccinated.

In an interview at the sidelines of Senate hearing on the proposed excise tax on alcoholic beverages, DoH Undersecretary Rolando Enrique Domingo yesterday said the downtrend in the number of children getting vaccinated could be attributed to the hesitation of parents following the “Dengvaxia scare.”

While the Health department is targeting to administer vaccines, particularly those against measles, to 90 percent of children one to two years old, the agency registered only 70-80 percent compliance in 2016 and 2017. The figure went down dramatically last year to only 40 percent, particularly in Metro Manila.

“There are many reasons – there are places that are difficult to reach, parents who have hesitation, but in 2018, the fear of side effects of vaccines was really an additional factor,” Domingo said.

“That is why we are really taking our time and effort to explain to the public that the measles vaccine is tried and tested for 50 years. So, this is safe,” he added.