By REY G. PANALIGAN
Department of Justice (DoJ) Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II said a government official has surfaced to disclose the irregularities in the purchase of the P3.5 billion Dengvaxia vaccine for the dengue immunization program of the past administration.
In an interview, Aguirre said “this government official is a very, very important witness who knows the transaction from beginning to end.”
Aguirre, however, refused to name the official whom, he said, he will meet after the Christmas break.
But he said the official has volunteered to cooperate with the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) which is conducting a probe to determine the civil and criminal liability of those behind the purchase of Dengvaxia vaccine.
The DoJ secretary had earlier directed the NBI to build up cases against those behind the purchase of Dengvaxia vaccine after its manufacturer had advised the public that the vaccine is effective for people who have had dengue but poses risks for those who have not yet had dengue.
Aguirre had also issued a lookout bulletin order (LBO) against former President Benigno Aquino III, former health secretary Janette Garin and six other officials who approved the program in 2015.
The LBO was issued after Aquino and the other officials were charge before the Office of the Ombudsman in a complaint filed by Gabriela Party-List and several parents of children who were injected with the vaccine.
Aside from Aquino and Garin, also charged were former budget secretary Florencio Abad, former executive secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr., Sanofi Pasteur vice president of dengue vaccine Guillaume Leroy, Sanofi chief executive officer Oliver Brandicourt, Sanofi Pasteur medical doctor Ruby Dizon, Sanofi Pasteur representative Thomas Triomphe, and Sanofi-Adventis Philippines country chair Carlito Realuyo.
They were charged with violation of the Republic Act no. 3019, the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, for approving the program that was allegedly “grossly disadvantageous to the government and detrimental to the health and welfare of its recipients, due to the lack of comprehensive study on the effectivity and risks of the vaccines.”
Earlier, the Supreme Court (SC) had been asked to compel three departments of government to monitor strictly children injected with Dengvaxia vaccine and to provide free medical services and treatment if needed.