Garin: I’m not covered by De Lima gag order

MANILA, Philippines—Acting Health Secretary Janette Garin insisted on Saturday that she was not covered by the gag order issued by Justice Secretary Leila de Lima against personalities linked to the questionable P833.67-million procurement of antipneumonia vaccines by the Department of Health (DOH).

Secretary Leila de Lima and Acting Health Secretary Janette Garin. INQUIRER and DOH FILE PHOTOS

Garin said that De Lima was not actually referring to her in the latter’s statement that health officials not go to the media to defend themselves for the questionable purchase of antipneumonia vaccines.

“I talked to her (De Lima),” Garin said on Saturday. “Her text message was on the issue of the PCV (pneumococcal conjugate vaccine 10), not the Nabcor (National Agribusiness Corporation). It was misunderstood.”

In a press conference on Wednesday, Garin clarified her alleged involvement in the diversion of pork barrel funds through Nabcor.

“I touched on the Nabcor issue, not the PCV,” Garin said, adding that De Lima’s text message was referring to the statements of Health Secretary Enrique Ona and his personal consultant, Dr. Lulu Bravo on the purchase of the PCV.

“But the statement (of Ona and Bravo) was posted on the Facebook page of the department, so they thought it came from us,” Garin said.

When the PCV issue first came up, Garin said she told De Lima that the DOH would send over any person or document that the DOJ would need for the investigation.

Garin said that she was not under investigation by the Department of Justice (DOJ) for the questionable Nabcor funds. She said she presented herself to the DOJ, but De Lima said there was no basis to investigate her.

“Someone complained verbally but could not produce documents,” Garin said.

The allegedly misappropriated funds came from the eight “technical studies” projects related to the Ginintuang Masaganang Ani that were undertaken by the defunct Nabcor.

The whistle-blowers, Nabcor officials Rhodora Mendoza and Victor Cacal, exposed last March that P300 million of the funds actually went to the 2007 election campaign kitties of Garin, then Iloilo congresswoman, and nine other lawmakers.

But Garin denied the accusation and insisted she had no dealings with Mendoza or anybody from Nabcor.

De Lima recalled that Mendoza and Cacal, together with their lawyer Levito Baligod, initially went to the Office of the Ombudsman to file a complaint but later returned to the DOJ.

Malacañang yesterday echoed the call of De Lima that the investigation into alleged anomalies in the DOH should remain within the “proper forum” instead of being discussed in the media.

“Whenever it comes to any investigation, we have always been of the position that any allegation should be answered in the proper forum,” deputy spokesperson Abigail Valte said over government-run Radyo ng Bayan.

It was short of telling Garin to be more circumspect in holding press conferences while the investigation into the questionable purchase of antipneumonia vaccines was still ongoing.

“What Secretary De Lima was saying was that it is better to answer (the allegations) within the confines of the investigation, that is something that we have always supported,” Valte said.

President Aquino himself ordered the investigation after receiving complaints that the procurement of the PCV 10 for the government’s expanded vaccination program did not follow the recommendation of the World Health Organization (WHO).

The WHO had recommended that the Philippines to purchase PCV 13, a more cost effective version of the antipneumonia shot.

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