Mafia at Health dep’t? Garin denies ‘plunder’ during time at DOH

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BY ADRIAN STEWART CO and PRINCE GOLEZ
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January 15, 2018
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“My lawyers are already studying the possibility of filing a libel complaint,” says former Health secretary Janette Garin. Several former and current officials in the Department f Health profited from the controversial procurement of the Dengvaxia vaccine, according to former DOH consultant Dr. Francis Cruz.

MANILA – A “big lie” was how former Department of Health (DOH) secretary Janette Garin called the accusation that she “plundered” the department’s billions of pesos worth of funds.

Garin denied the claim of former DOH consultant Dr. Francis Cruz that former and current Health officials benefited from various projects, including the purchase of the controversial dengue vaccine Dengvaxia.

“This is a big lie! I categorically deny any wrongdoing as former DOH [secretary] and as a public servant,” she said in a statement on Sunday. “I always did what was best for the department to fulfill its mandate.”

In a news conference on Saturday, Cruz said a supposed “mafia” comprising incumbent and former DOH officials participated in different capacities in activities he called “acts of plunder.”

Such activities, Cruz claimed, included the conversion of a part of the P3.5-billion fund for Dengvaxia, “ghost” projects of the Health Facilities Enhancement Program worth P23 billion and “assorted medicines” worth P12 billion.

“I will definitely stop him (Cruz) if he is intending to destroy the DOH as an institution,” said Garin. “My lawyers are already studying the possibility of filing a libel complaint against Dr. Cruz.”

Garin served as congresswoman of Iloilo province’s 1st District before getting appointed as Health secretary under the Benigno Aquino III administration.

She questioned Cruz’s motives in making a public allegation. The former DOH consultant should have directly filed charges at the Office of the Ombudsman instead, she said.

“His motivation in hurling these unsubstantiated accusations against career DOH officials is very questionable,” said Garin. “If indeed he knows of anomalies in the DOH, why did he not file cases in court or the Ombudsman?”

“Why is he maligning the reputation of so many DOH officials in media? Is it because his appointment as [undersecretary] of DOH under Secretary (Paulyn) Ubial is no longer possible?” she added.

Garin got embroiled in the Dengvaxia controversy as it was during her time as Health secretary that the Philippines started administering the vaccine to schoolchildren in the world’s first public dengue immunization program.

FULL REFUND, PLEASE

Meanwhile, the DOH was urged to demand the full refund of the amount spent to purchase Dengvaxia.

The government paid French manufacturer Sanofi Pasteur P3.5 billion for the dengue vaccine in 2016.

“All the vaccines were defective from the very beginning,” Sen. Aquilino Pimentel III said on Sunday. “Under our laws, we should demand the whole P3.5 billion we paid them and not just part of it.”

On Jan. 11 Health secretary Francisco Duque said in a television interview he asked Sanofi to refund around P1.5 billion worth of unused vaccines and conduct serotesting on children who got vaccinated.

“The Civil Code says you can have a defective product replaced or refunded,” said Pimentel. “Since there is no possible replacement for the vaccine, refund is the only option.”

Still, refunding the full amount does not get Sanofi off the hook – it has put the lives of more than 800,000 children at risk, stressed the Senate president.

The Philippines stopped the distribution of Dengvaxia in December 2017 after Sanofi warned the vaccine could worsen symptoms for people who had not previously been infected with the virus.

Authorities were also pursuing criminal and public health safety investigations into any links between the vaccine and the deaths of 14 schoolchildren who died months after being vaccinated./PN
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