Former health secretary and now Iloilo Rep. Janette Garin (File photo)
MANILA – Former health secretary and now Iloilo Rep. Janette Garin on Wednesday expressed confidence that the graft and technical malversation charges filed against her by the Office of the Ombudsman over the purchase of the Dengvaxia dengue vaccine would be dismissed.
Garin said her conscience is clear, as she welcomed the case as an "opportunity to finally put an end to the longstanding issue".
"As we maintain our clear conscience and readiness to face the issues that confront us, we are confident that our sound exercise of discretion, which is backed by hard science, will disprove the allegations in the complaint," she said.
She noted that advocating vaccine development entails a lot of risks for doctors and vaccinologists, arguing that it is part of the challenges "that come with our calling to save lives."
"We firmly believe in the principles of justice and due process, which our legal system upholds. With this, we fully trust that our innocence will be duly proven, and the truth will come out in due time," she said.
According to the Ombudsman, Garin, former Department of Health (DOH) undersecretary Gerardo Bayugo, former DOH acting director Maria Joyce Ducusin, former DOH undersecretary Kenneth Hartigan-Go, and former Philippine Children’s Medical Center chief Julius Lecciones "willfully, unlawfully and feloniously cause the realignment of government fund” amounting to PHP3.5 billion for the purchase of the Dengvaxia vaccine.
The Ombudsman noted that the procurement of Dengvaxia from pharmaceutical giant Sanofi Pasteur in 2016 was not part of the health department's expanded program for immunization (EPI).
The Ombudsman further said the Dengvaxia vaccines were not listed in Volume 1 of the Philippine National Drug Formulary in violation of Executive Order 49, series of 1993, and related administrative orders and issuances.
More than 800,000 school children were vaccinated in 2016 when Sanofi announced that Dengvaxia may cause adverse effects in those who have not had previous dengue infection. (PNA)
