Garin to seek reinvestigation on Dengvaxia raps

MANILA, Philippines — Former Department of Health (DOH) secretary and now Iloilo Rep. Janette Garin will seek a reinvestigation on the graft and technical malversation charges filed against her and four other former and incumbent officials in connection with the agency’s Dengvaxia vaccination program during the Aquino administration.

“Big surprise for us, especially that I am not aware of any existing case before the ombudsman,” Garin said.

“We will file a motion to reinvestigate since we were deprived of our constitutional right to procedural due process,” she told The STAR in a text message.

She noted a few years ago, they read in the “news filing of such case” but they did not receive any official notice for them to respond accordingly.

Garin made the statement in reaction to the recommendation of a review panel created by Ombudsman Samuel Martires to file graft and technical malversation charges against Garin and four others over the DOH’s anti-dengue mass vaccination program.

The panel’s resolution showed that P3.5-billion Dengvaxia vaccination had placed a large number of public school students “at considerable health risks as there were still pending issues on the safety and efficacy of the Dengvaxia vaccines, thereby causing undue injury to the government in billions of public funds.”