House Deputy Speaker Janette Garin pushed back against Batangas 1st District Rep. Leandro Leviste after he resurfaced the Dengvaxia controversy in a Mother’s Day greeting posted on social media.
In a Facebook post on Saturday, Leviste suggested that Garin’s supposed support for the impeachment of Vice President Sara Duterte was tied to her past involvement in the Dengvaxia issue.
“Happy Mother’s Day, Janette Garin! Your friend said you supposedly need to vote for the impeachment because of your Dengvaxia case. After the voting, hopefully your cases will finally be resolved,” Leviste said in Filipino.
The remarks came weeks after Cavite 4th District Rep. Kiko Barzaga also revived the controversy online, saying he referred to Garin as the “Dengvaxia Queen” whenever he saw her in Congress.
Garin was the health secretary when the Dengvaxia controversy erupted in 2016 following reports linking the dengue vaccine to the deaths of several children.
However, the Department of Justice in 2025 dismissed the remaining complaints against Garin and other officials for lack of sufficient evidence directly linking the vaccine to the deaths cited in the cases.
Undettered
In a response posted Sunday, Garin said efforts to revive the issue were politically motivated and intended to damage her reputation.
“The Dengvaxia scare is a diversion from the fundamental public health challenges of the previous administration,” Garin said.
“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,” she added.
Garin also rejected what she described as disinformation campaigns against her.
“We will not be deterred by such disinformation and we will remain steadfast in our commitment to the truth,” she said.