Aquino on Dengvaxia: ‘people’s health cannot be held in abeyance by elections’

ormer president Benigno Aquino III shows a graph of dengue cases at a news briefing at the Comelec office after filing a counter affidavit on the Dengvaxia complaint filed by VACC.-Inquirer/Grig C. Montegrande

The “job of protecting the people’s health cannot be held in abeyance by elections,” former President Benigno Aquino III said on Thursday as he denied the allegations that he and some of his cabinet members violated the Commission on Election (Comelec) ban on disbursement when they implemented the anti-dengue vaccine program at the height of the 2016 election campaign

Dr. Francis Cruz and the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC) are accusing Aquino, former Budget secretary Florencio Abad, former Health secretary Janette Garin, and several DOH officials of violating Section 261 (o) and (v) of Batas Pambansa 881 or the Omnibus Election Code.

The section prohibits the “release and use of government funds for poll campaign within 45 days before a regular election or 30 days before a special election.”

They filed the complaint before the Comelec Legal Department early February this year.

In a televised media briefing following the preliminary hearing at the Comelec law department, Aquino said the date of Dengvaxia purchase order was March 9, 2016, way before 2016 election ban on disbursements which took effect on March 25, 2016.

Garin, who was also present during the briefing, said there was no need to seek exemption from the Comelec election ban on disbursements because the “disbursement of the funds did not happen during the election ban in 2016.”

Aquino also pointed out that there was no intention to influence voters upon approving and implementing the P3 billion Dengvaxia program, and that the case only aims to harass them.

“Nataon lang na dun natapos lahat ng proseso eh… The job of protecting the people’s health cannot be held in abeyance by elections,” he told reporters. “It doesn’t stop because it is an election year.”

“Pati pagsuot ng dilaw na damit, ginawa pong reklamo… klaro namang harassment lang ang punto. Tama marahil ang sinasabi ng ilan na di katarungan ang layunin ang layunin dito kundi ang magpapansin para ma-appoint sa puwesto. Klaro rin po na ang nararapat na hantungan ng ganitong reklamo ay ang basurahan. Inaasahan po nating gagawin ng Comelec ang tama at yan ang idismiss ang reklamo sa lalong madaling panahon,” he also said in a statement he read during the briefing.

The former president also criticized the complaint’s content saying its accusations were “not clear.”

“Basahin nyo yung complaint tignan nyo kung may laman,” he told reporters.

“Nung binasa ko ang reklamo nila Dr. Francsico Cruz at Dr. Clarito Ciro Jr. sa totoo lang po, nahilo ako. Hindi klaro kung ano ang nirereklamo. Ano ba ang nilabag kong batas at paano ko ba ito nilabag? Wala po akong ginawang mali. May kumpiyansa akong imposibleng mapatunayan ang isang pangyayari na kailanman ay hindi nangyari,” he also said.

Current Health Secretary Francisco Duque III ordered the suspension of the vaccination when French pharmaceutical giant Sanofi Pasteur bared in November 2017 that Dengvaxia could worsen symptoms of the disease for people who had not previously been infected by the virus.

The anti-dengue vaccine was given to more than 830,000 children in areas with high incidences of dengue.  /muf