IT SEEMS quite fitting that the day after that so-called EDSA nonsense we write about one of the greatest tragedies that is part of the legacy of the Aquino mother and son presidency, probably the darkest moments in our history as quite literally Metro Manila then was plagued with eight-hour brownouts daily during “Tita Cory’s” reign.
This tragedy, however, was not “Tita Cory’s” doing; it was that nincompoop Noynoy who unleashed it among us, particularly the 800,000 schoolchildren vaccinated with the experimental drug Dengvaxia.
This hastily-done-with-political-ulterior-motives move (it was the eve of the 2016 presidential elections) resulted into the inadvertent creeping genocide of these 800,000 schoolchildren of which 600 are already dead and counting.
Mothers have been crying for justice for the untimely and unnecessary, not to mention painful, deaths of their children and demand for the accountability of then president Noynoy Aquino.
Thanks to the Public Attorney’s Office or PAO which made the plight of the Dengvaxia victims its advocacy; cases were filed in court to make the perpetrators of this tragedy accountable and justice be served.
So just when they all thought that everybody has forgotten about “Dengvaxia Genocide” and the flavor of the month is now “ube cheese pandesal” and the ABS-CBN nonsense (since when has the expiration of a franchise and failure to renew it an assault on “press freedom”?) this suddenly comes out in the 6 o’clock news:
Excerpts from the Feb. 22, 2020 issue of Panay News:
Garin, 9 others indicted again over Dengvaxia
The Department of Justice (DOJ) has found probable cause to again charge former Department of Health (DOH) secretary Janette Garin (now Iloilo 1st District congresswoman) in connection with the controversial anti-dengue vaccine Dengvaxia.
DOJ prosecutors said yesterday Garin and nine other former officials of DOH, Food and Drug Administration, Research Institute for Tropical Medicine, and Sanofi Pasteur, Inc. should be prosecuted for reckless imprudence resulting to homicide.
The indictments were for the second batch of complaints filed by parents of children who died allegedly after being inoculated with Dengvaxia.
“The panel [of prosecutors] concluded that the accomplishment of the procurement process for the Dengvaxia vaccine, with undue haste, within a limited timeframe, and despite the red flags known to Garin and other respondents, amounted to reckless imprudence,” according to the DOJ.
The Justice department also said state prosecutors indicted the president of Sanofi Pasteur for violating the Consumer Act of the Philippines “for manufacturing the Dengvaxia vaccine which poses certain risks to seronegatives, or to those who have not previously contracted the dengue disease.”
For those with a short memory span and some who have been living under a rock, hopefully this will refresh your memory and enlighten you:
The previous Aquino administration initiated the nationwide Dengvaxia immunization program in the summer of 2016, purchasing P3.5 billion in Dengvaxia vaccines for a million public school children in regions reported to have the highest incidence of dengue. Garin was then the DOH secretary.
In December 2017, DOH stopped the program after Sanofi Pasteur said Dengvaxia might increase the risk of severe dengue in recipients who had not contracted the mosquito-borne disease. At the time, over 800,000 school children had been vaccinated.
No, I am not a fan of former Health Secretary and now Iloilo 1st District representative Janette Garin. In fact I’ve never met her and I’m sure she would not recognize me from a fig tree but it’s quite curious why is she the only top official indicted.
Not that we are questioning her involvement, but the buck does not stop with her; she was still answerable to her boss which happened to be the then president, that nincompoop Noynoy Aquino.
The top two officials in the “Dengvaxia scandal” are Garin and former Budget secretary Florencio Abad and both are answerable and subordinate to the top dog himself, former President Aquino who is only answerable to God or the Devil as the case maybe.
Take note that for the Dengvaxia vaccination program to happen, it needed the consent and approval of the President.
So what about Noynoy Aquino? Why isn’t he included in this indictment? And while we’re at it, what about Abad?
It’s not that the natives are not happy with Garin’s indictment but for sure there would be dancing on the streets if Abad and Aquino are included.
It does seem indeed that they threw former Health secretary Janette Garin under the bus. (brotherlouie16@gmail.com/PN)
