Photo by Cathy Miranda/ INQUIRER.net
Former President Benigno Aquino III on Thursday said he attended the Senate hearing on the controversial P3.5-billion anti-dengue vaccine as part of his duty as a citizen to help “allay fears” that came up after Sanofi Pasteur, the vaccine’s manufacturer, announced that it could result to severe dengue for those who have not yet had the ailment.
“With the announcement of Sanofi and the reactions to it, there has been a lot of tension building up and I think it is incumbent upon me even as a citizen to try and allay certain fears, to put it in the proper perspective, to put it on the proper level,” Aquino told reporters when asked if appearing at the investigation was demeaning to his stature as a former president.
Aquino is the second former President to attend a Senate investigation into programs they implemented during their terms. Former President Fidel Ramos also appeared at the investigation in the multi-billion Centennial Expo project in Pampanga.
Aquino arrived shortly after 9 a.m. at the Senate for the 10 a.m. hearing. He waited at the office of his cousin, Senator “Bam” Aquino.
He was joined by his former Cabinet members, particularly then Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa and then Budget Sec. Butch Abad, who were also invited to the Senate blue ribbon committee hearing.
Former Cabinet secretaries Dinky Soliman (Social Welfare), Ramon Jimenez (Tourism), Mel Sarmiento (Interior and Local Government) and Kim Henares (Bureau of Internal Revenue) and some of Aquino’s former Malacanang staff joined him at the Senate.
Aquino was the 21st witness who arrived at the Senate session hall and signed the list of the Senate blue ribbon committee.
The anti-dengue vaccine given to young children was an important program for Aquino’s administration after a rising number of dengue infection nationwide, with some resulting in deaths.
Aquino also said he considered his attendance at the hearing as “an opportunity to answer innuendos that have been thrown at me left and right.”
Asked if he would clear his name at the hearing if there would be insinuations of corruption, Aquino said: “I will answer questions thrown at me.”