House panels recommend charges vs Aquino, Abad, Garin over Dengvaxia mess
Credit to Author: mfrialde| Date: Wed, 06 Feb 2019 04:04:35 +0000
MANILA, Philippines — A joint panel of the House of Representatives on Wednesday recommended the filing of criminal and administrative charges against former President Benigno Aquino III as well as former Budget Sec. Florencio Abad and Health Sec. Janette Garin in connection with the P3.5 billion Dengvaxia mess.
According to the approved committee report of the House committees on good government and public accountability and health, Aquino, Abad, Garin, and others have violated Section 3(e) of RA No. 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act for allegedly “conspiring and confederating with one another for the purpose of giving any private party any unwarranted benefits, advantage or preference in the discharge of his official administrative or judicial functions through manifest partiality, evident bad faith or gross inexcusable negligence.”
The joint panel also ruled that “there was collusion among public officials to ensure that a large quantity of Dengvaxia vaccines would be purchased by the government for administration to school children in the National Capital Region (NCR) and in Regions III (Central Luzon) and IV (Southern Tagalog).”
“This was done even though the safety and efficacy of Dengvaxia had not been clearly established. These officials provided shortcuts in the process to favor Sanofi Pasteur, the manufacturer of a commercially available dengue vaccine,” the report added.
The following officials may also be held liable for graft, according to the committees: Dr. Maria Joyce Ducusin, Dr. Rosalind Vianzon, Dr. Mario Baquilod, Dr. Julius Lecciones, Dr. Estrella Paje-Villar, members of the Philippine Children’s Medical Center (PCMC) Bids and Awards Committee, Dr. Kenneth Hartigan-Go and Dr. Lyndon Lee Suy.
The report further said Aquino, Abad, Garin, and Lecciones may be held liable for technical malversation or for Illegal Use of Public Funds or Property, under Article 220 of the Revised Penal Code, as well as grave misconduct. /muf