Duque blasts ‘obstruction’ case against him

DOH Secretary Francisco Duque III. CATHY MIRANDA / INQUIRER.net FILE PH OTO

“Baseless, malicious and counterproductive.”

This was how Health Secretary Francisco Duque III on Wednesday described the complaint for obstruction of justice filed against him by the Public Attorney’s Office (PAO) which he said “hampers the ongoing efforts of the Department of Health (DOH) to provide accessible health care to those vaccinated with Dengvaxia.”

Unauthorized release

Duque said that the PAO could have easily applied for a subpoena to get the dengue vaccine master list from the DOH, as the Data Privacy Act under the National Privacy Commission had cautioned them about what might be considered an unauthorized release of information.

Financial assistance

The health secretary also clarified that the P50,000 financial assistance to be given to families of deceased Dengvaxia recipients would come from the Office of the President.

Duque “vehemently” denied as well the PAO claim that he had worked as a consultant during the term of Health Secretary Janette Garin and that he took part in policy-making at the DOH at that time. —Tina G. Santos