Aquino should thank Duterte – Roque

Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque (left) said former-President Benigno Aquino III (right, inset) should thank President Rodrigo Duterte (middle, inset) for not turning the Dengvaxia controversy into a political witch-hunt. INQUIRER FILES

SEOUL, South Korea — The Palace said Tuesday that former President Benigno Aquino III should “give credit” to President Duterte for not turning the Dengvaxia controversy into a political witch-hunt.

Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque was reacting to Aquino’s apprehension that he too might end up detained like Sen. Leila de Lima – this time over the P3.5-billion Dengvaxia mess.

The former president is seeking the junking of the criminal complaint filed against him by the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption for his administration’s implementation of a dengue immunization program where 800,000 children were given Dengvaxia.

At least 58 people, mostly children, have died after receiving Dengvaxia, which experts have warned could cause severe illness to those who have not been exposed to the mosquito-borne disease.

Roque said the President Duterte had been “very laid back on the issue of Dengvaxia.”

“(The President) has made it clear that he was awaiting the findings of a group of foreign experts. He is not swayed either way by anyone’s opinion because, so far, all the experts’ opinions contradict each other,” he said.

“I think the former president should give credit to President Duterte because he could have made this into a political witch-hunt and he did not,” the President’s spokesperson added.

Duterte earlier ordered the creation of a panel of foreign experts to determine whether Dengvaxia caused the deaths of people who got the vaccine. /cbb

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