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[av_heading heading=’Poll offense? Comelec subpoenas Aquino, Abad, Garin’ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=’30’ subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’18’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=” av-medium-font-size-title=” av-small-font-size-title=” av-mini-font-size-title=” av-medium-font-size=” av-small-font-size=” av-mini-font-size=” admin_preview_bg=”]
BY ADRIAN STEWART CO
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Monday, March 5, 2018
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MANILA – Former president Benigno Aquino III and two members of his Cabinet were facing proceedings before the Commission on Elections (Comelec) for an alleged election offense.
The Comelec Law Department subpoenaed Aquino, former Budget secretary Florencio Abad and former Health secretary Janette Garin, requiring them to attend a preliminary hearing on March 15.
The Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC) filed charges against the three for allegedly pushing through with a mass immunization using the controversial dengue vaccine Dengvaxia during the 2016 election ban.
“You are hereby warned that failure on your part to comply with the subpoena shall be considered as waiver of your right to present your defense and the case shall be considered submitted for resolution based on the evidence on record,” the Comelec Law Department said.
The VACC said April 4, 2016, when the mass dengue immunization was first carried out, falls within the 45-day election ban on government projects ahead of the May 2016 elections.
With this Aquino, Abad and Garin violated Section 261 (o) and (v) of the Omnibus Election Code, said VACC legal counsel Manuelito Luna.
“They used the program under the guise of addressing an emergency but they did not seek any exemption from Comelec,” Luna said.
Violation of the law may lead to imprisonment of one to six years, disqualification to hold public office and deprivation of the right to vote.
The Aquino administration bought P3.5 billion worth of Dengvaxia shots for the world’s first mass dengue immunization of public school children in highly affected regions.
But the Department of Health stopped the program in December last year after manufacturer Sanofi Pasteur claimed the vaccine may cause severe symptoms among those who have not been infected by the dengue virus.
At the time more than 800,000 school children had already been inoculated./PN
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