Garin, others charged over Dengvaxia

MANILA, Philippines — The Office of the Ombudsman has filed criminal charges against former Department of Health (DOH) secretary and incumbent Iloilo First District Rep. Janette Garin and four other former and incumbent officials in connection with the allegedly anomalous P3.556-billion dengue mass vaccination program of the Aquino administration.

Filed at the Sandiganbayan on Oct. 24, the cases involve violations of Section 3 (e) of Republic Act 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act and illegal use of public funds or property, also known as technical malversation, under Article 220 of the Revised Penal Code.

Named as Garin’s co-accused in the graft case were DOH Supply Chain Management Service director Maria Joyce Ducusin, former DOH undersecretaries Gerardo Bayugo and Kenneth Hartigan-Go as well as Philippine Children’s Medical Center executive director Julius Lecciones.

Except for Bayugo, the three other mentioned officials were also named as co-accused of Garin in the technical malversation case.

The ombudsman has recommended against Garin and her co-accused a bail bond of P90,000 for the graft case and P18,000 for the technical malversation case in exchange for their provisional liberty.

The cases stemmed from the Aquino administration’s purchase of P3.556 billion worth of Dengvaxia dengue vaccines manufactured by French pharmaceutical giant Sanofi Pasteur, and distributed locally by Zuellig Pharma.

The vaccines were administered to about 800,000 public school students aged nine years old and above, especially in the National Capital Region, Central Luzon and Calabarzon starting in April 2016 in connection with the implementation of the School-Based Immunization Program.

The DOH suspended the mass immunization program on Dec. 1, 2017, a day after Sanofi Pasteur disclosed that Dengvaxia poses threat of severe symptoms to those who had not been afflicted with dengue before.

Based on the charge sheets prepared by ombudsman’s graft investigation and Prosecution Officer III Rodil Casal, the money for the purchase of the Dengvaxia vaccines was sourced from government savings under the 2015 Miscellaneous Personnel Benefit Fund and from the 2014 General