/ AFP PHOTO / TED ALJIBE
(Eagle News) – Senate Blue Ribbon Committee chair Senator Richard Gordon said no less than former President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III should be held responsible for allegedly hastening the procurement of the controversial Dengvaxia vaccines that were used on more than 800,000 children in a mass vaccination program during his administration.
Gordon said Aquino, as well as his officials who were involved in the program — former Health Secretary Janet Garin and former Budget Secretary Florencio “Butch” Abad – were responsible for making shortcuts to procure P3 billion worth of Dengvaxia vaccines from Sanofi Pasteur before Aquino’s term ended in 2016.
The senator pointed to Aquino’s meeting with Sanofi officials in December 2015 as a key factor since after this, the procurement of Dengvaxia had been fast-tracked.
On December 1, 2015, former President Aquino and Garin met with Sanofi officials during the United Nations Conference on Climate Change in Paris, France.
After that, on December 10, Garin submitted a proposal to the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) for the purchase of three million doses of Dengvaxia.
“When you see the President of the Philippine meeting with Sanofi in Paris, are you not surprised that the timeline will be so fast? And when he met again on December 1, should we not be surprised na ang bilis lumabas ng SARO (special allotment release order),” Gordon said during the resumption of hearings on the Dengvaxia vaccine in the senate on Tuesday, March 13.
Aquino was not present during the hearing.
“Now how can you disabuse the mind of the blue ribbon committee that the people who pressed the button was no less than the president of the republic of the Philippines, his budget minister, his secretary of health and all the other people that went along the light because the president says so,” Gordon said.
Three weeks after Aquino met with Sanofi officials, on December 22, the Philippines granted marketing approval to Dengvaxia, when the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved its marketing and issued a certificate of product registration.
The following day, Dec. 23, budget secretary Abad issued a memorandum for then President Aquino recommending the funding for the dengue vaccination program in the amount of P3.5 billion to be taken from the Miscellaneous Personnel Benefits Fund (MPBF) savings.
And on December 28, Abad issued a ₱3.5-billion Special Allotment Release Order to Garin’s office to purchase the vaccines.
-Who pushed the button?-
Gordon said that the proper process was not followed.
“Kung hindi sinunod iyan somebody has to be held responsible. Who pushed the button? Who said gawin na natin ito?,” he said.
“Now how can you disabuse the mind of the blue ribbon committee that the people who pressed the button was no less than the president of the republic of the Philippines, his budget minister, his secretary of health and all the other people that went along the light because the president says so,” he added.
The senator said that aside from reckless imprudence, murder can be filed against those responsible for Dengvaxia mess.
-Parents of Dengvaxia victims urged to file cases –
He said that the parents of the children who died after receiving the Dengvaxia vaccine can file the cases.
“Maaring mag kaso sa kanila ‘yung mga tao. Aside from reckless imprudence, maaring murder. Kung mapatunayan they can file a case against him for murder. Namatay ang anak ko dahil sa’yo. Eh deliberate yung ginawa. You are responsible for all the act,” Gordon told reporters after the hearing on Dengvaxia Tuesday, March 13.
“Civil action yun. Maselan ito ah, the former president should really get somebody to explain his role here,” he said.
He said that even Sanofi Pasteur should be held responsible for the deaths of children
He added that executives of the drug manufacturer Sanofi could also be included in the case because they should be made responsible
“They are all responsible for the acts that they make, kahit hindi mo iniintent na nakasakit ka, responsible ka dun. I’m not happy with this but I really believe that they are responsible. I go with the evidence,” Gordon said.
In the hearing on Tuesday, Sanofi Pasteur executive said that Sanofi informed the Philippine government about the benefits and risks of administering Dengvaxia on a massive population, but that it was the Philippine government’s decision to implement this on a mass vaccination program where more than 800,000 schoolchildren had been injected with Dengvaxia.
(Eagle News Service)
