Press Release
February 8, 2019

Dispatch from Crame No. 464:
SEN. LEILA M. DE LIMA ON THE HOUSE COMMITTEES' RECOMMENDATION TO FILE CHARGES AGAINST PNOY, ET. AL.

2/8/19

The House Committees on Health and Good Government recently came out with a report recommending the filing of graft charges against former President Benigno S. Aquino III, former Budget Sec. Florencio Abad, and former Health Sec. Janet Garin in the acquisition of the Dengvaxia vaccine.

The recommendation is indeed questionable, as argued by Rep. Kaka Bag-ao, because the previous panel Chair found no basis for such a recommendation. It is only now under the leadership of Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo that the House panel found the former administration officials liable. Evidently, this move of the House panel is politically-motivated.

It is highly ironic that this report comes out at a time when a health crisis is in the offing due to the Dengvaxia scare instigated by PAO Chief Persida Acosta and Duterte's social media minions. There is now a measles outbreak as declared by the DOH. This was totally preventable by vaccination which many did not avail of because of the panic created in her effort to pin down previous administration officials for supposed deaths caused by Dengvaxia. Acosta's grandstanding in her malicious prosecution of the Dengvaxia issue has cost the government years of progress in its vaccination programs.

The Dengvaxia scare is one of the most despicable politically-driven actions ever contrived. At the cost of public health and safety, a government official was allowed by the Duterte Administration to single-handedly destroy the people's trust in the DOH's vaccination programs. All this was sacrificed in Acosta's hope of endearing herself to Duterte by delivering PNoy's and the other's heads in a silver platter.

The same political motivations characterize the House panel report. Prominent lawyer and senatorial candidate Chel Diokno is correct. This smacks of political retaliation.

I just hope that the DOJ and the Ombudsman before whom the cases have been filed against PNoy, et. al. would not be swayed by political pressure in resolving these cases.

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