Garin says move to put an end to controversy
THE Office of the Ombudsman has filed graft and technical malversation charges before the Sandiganbayan against former Health secretary now Iloilo Rep. Janette Garin and other Department of health (DOH) officials for the alleged illegal diversion of P3.556 billion for the procurement of Dengvaxia vaccines in 2015.
Other than Garin, also named in the graft case were former DOH Undersecretary Gerardo Bayugo, Undersecretary Kenneth Hartigan-Go, OIC director Joyce Ducusin, and former Philippine Children’s Medical Center (PCMC) executive director Julius Lecciones.
Hartigan-Go, Ducusin, and Lecciones were also named as co-defendants of Garin in the technical malversation charge.
Prosecutors recommended that bail bonds for each accused be set at P90,000 for graft and P18,000 for technical malversation.
Garin expressed relief that the issue has been brought in court saying it is a chance to end the controversy for good.
“(This) is an opportunity to finally put an end to the longstanding issue that apparently continue to haunt us,” she said in a statement.
“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 filed by Atty. Glenn Chiong,” she added.
The lawmaker stressed that the purchase of vaccines was not tainted by corruption but was colored by misinformation.
She pointed out that Dengvaxia remains on the World Health Organization’s (WHO) list of important vaccines.
“Our decisions and actions were all science-based. Globally, the Philippines got the cheapest price. The whole world is continuously using the vaccine. It is listed in WHO’s EML or Essential Medicines List which means all countries are mandated to make it available to its people at all times,” she said.
While she lamented that the controversy caused some people to mistrust vaccines and put themselves at risk by refusing inoculation, the former DOH secretary said it is a challenge that comes with the job.
“The nuance between pro-vaccine and anti-vaxxers is part of the challenges of doctors and vaccinologists like us. It’s a risk we take as part of our job to save lives thru vaccination,” she said.
“Finally, 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,” Garin said.
In the charge sheet dated October 24, government prosecutors alleged that the respondents supposedly “willfully, unlawfully and feloniously” caused the release of P3.57 billion of public funds to increase the budget for the Expanded Program for Immunization (EPI) but allegedly used the said funds for Dengvaxia purchase, which is not part of the EPI.
Garin contested that the funds used for the dengue vaccine were taken from the DOH’s Miscellaneous Personnel Benefits Fund and was intended for other purposes.
She stressed that the Special Allotment Release Order (SARO) issued by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) specified that the sum was for the procurement of vaccines.
“The SARO is very clear. It was for dengue vaccine for Regions 3, 4A and NCR. We just followed the DBM-issued SARO. It would be better to thresh all of these in court so we can put an end to it,” she said.
Included in the lineup of prosecution witnesses were lawyers Glenn Chong of the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC) and Eligio Mallari of the Vanguard of the Philippines Constitution Inc. and doctors Anthony Leachon and Clarito Cairo Jr. — With Wendell Vigilia
