QC court affirms damage suit vs Garin over Dengvaxia

MANILA, Philippines — The Quezon City Regional Trial Court (RTC) has refused to dismiss the damage suit against former Health Secretary and now Congresswoman Janet Garin over the controversial Dengvaxia vaccine.

In an order made public Wednesday, the Quezon RTC Branch 230 denied the motion to dismiss filed by Garin.

Garin, in her motion, said the QC RTC court has no jurisdiction given that none of the parties reside in the city.

She added that the complaint against her failed to state any cause of action to justify a claim for damages.

In law, the cause of action allows a person to take action against another individual, organization or group. The inquiry looks into the sufficiency, not the veracity, of the allegations raised in the complaint.

But the court said under the rules, the plaintiff, in this case, Ian L. Colite, a security guard from Cavite, has the prerogative to choose the venue where the case will be filed.

“Prescinding therefrom, the court finds the venue properly laid by the plaintiff when he chose to file the instant complaint in this court by reason of the residence of one of the impleaded defendants which he considers as a principal defendant,” read the court’s order.

The defendant referred to is Zuellig, the local distributor of Sanofi Pasteur, the manufacturer of the vaccine.

Colite’s son received two doses of the vaccine. He died in December 2017.

With regard to the cause of action, the court said it is sufficient to proceed with the trial.

“Upon perusal of the Complaint, the Court finds the allegations in the complaint sufficient to constitute a cause of action… it is incumbent upon the court to deny the instant motion to dismiss and proceed to trial to prove the defense of herein defendant. Thus, this court should still proceed with the determination of the principal action so that an adjudication of the rights of the parties can be had,” said the court.

The court gave Garin 15 days to comment on the civil suit.

EDV