PAO defies ex-DOH chief’s call to stop Dengvaxia probe

PAO chief Persida Rueda-Acosta (File photo by EDWIN BACASMAS / Philippine Daily Inquirer)

The Public Attorney’s Office (PAO) defies the call of former Health Secretary Esperanza Cabral and her group Doctors for Public Welfare (DPW) to halt its probe into the deaths of children injected with Dengvaxia.

PAO chief Persida Rueda-Acosta on Saturday, Feb. 3, said her office was only conducting forensic examinations on the children’s bodies at the request of their parents.

“Ang nabanggit na eksaminasyon ay isinasagawa ng PAO Forensic Doctors batay sa HILING ng mga magulang na nais malaman ang tunay na dahilan ng pagkamatay ng kanilang mga anak,” Acosta said in a statement.

“Kung may tiwala ang mga magulang sa kanila, ay maaari silang magsagawa ng eksaminasyon. Subalit hindi pagmamay-ari ng mga doktor ang mga bangkay, kundi ang mga kamag-anak ang may karapatan dito,” the PAO chief stressed.

DPW, a group led by Cabral, issued a statement on the same day urging the Department of Justice (DOJ) to stop performing autopsies and to leave the matter to “competent forensic pathologists.”

“It makes no sense for any more families to be subjected to the torture of having a loved one exhumed and cut up only to find out that no useful information was derived from the cruel act,” the group insisted.

READ: Ex-Health chief, doctors want PAO’s Dengvaxia probe to stop

But Acosta explained that it the parents, not the PAO Forensic Team, were the ones who first called for autopsies on the children’s bodies.

“Hindi kusang nagprisinta ang PAO forensic doctors na magbigay ng kanilang serbisyo; bagkus, sila ay pinakiusapan ng magulang ng mga bata,” she said.

“Katunayan ito ng tiwala at pananalig nila sa ahensya. Mayroon ding credible at non-conflicted pathologists ang PAO upang makumpleto ang eksaminasyon ng mga tissues na kailangan sa forensic analysis,” she said. /atm