Garin hits back at Leviste Mother’s Day greeting over resurfaced Dengvaxia issue

House Deputy Speaker Janette Garin replied to Batangas 1st District Rep. Leandro Leviste’s Mother’s Day greeting after the latter delivered a subtle jab by resurfacing the Dengvaxia issue that first erupted in 2016.

In a Facebook post last Saturday, 9 May, Leviste greeted Garin while alleging that the main reason she was going to supposedly vote in favor of the impeachment of Vice President Sara Duterte was to cover up for her cases related to Dengvaxia.

“Happy Mother’s Day, Janette Garin! Kaya mo raw kailangang bumoto para sa impeachment dahil sa kaso mo sa Dengvaxia, ayon sa kaibigan mo. Pagkatapos ng botohan, sana maresolba na ang mga kaso mo,” the post read.

The Batangas representative’s remarks were not the first time in the past weeks that the controversy was brought up; however, as Cavite 4th District Rep. Kiko Barzaga also took to Facebook, stating that he refers to the congresswoman as “Dengvaxia Queen” whenever he saw her in Congress.

Garin has been connected to the aforementioned issue as she served as the Department of Health (DOH) at the time that it arose due to the hundreds of children who died after receiving the vaccine that was meant for dengue.

However, the lawmaker has not faced any direct legal actions for the matter with the Department of Justice (DOJ) in 2025, dropping all charges linking her to the controversy for lack of substantial evidence concerning a link between the vaccine and the deaths.

In her response this Sunday, which was also publicized on social media, Garin said that the attempts to revive the issue were merely sought to discredit her reputation as a public official.

“The dengvaxia scare is a diversion from the fundamental public health challenges of the previous administration. It is unfortunate that there are persistent efforts to revive the issue when it is already an established fact that the cases against me have been dismissed,” the solon said.

“We will not be deterred by such disinformation, and we will remain steadfast in our commitment to the truth,” she added.